Prospective motion correction in functional MRI using simultaneous multislice imaging and multislice-to-volume image...

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Medical Physics
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Subject motion is a significant challenge in functional MRI (fMRI), compromising the accuracy of brain activation quantification.
• Existing prospective motion correction methods in fMRI often have low temporal resolution due to volume-to-volume registration.
• Head restraints are insufficient to eliminate motion in long fMRI scans and tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel prospective motion correction technique for fMRI.
• To enable sub-TR (repetition time) motion detection and real-time system adaptation.
• To improve the reliability of fMRI data by mitigating motion-induced artifacts.

Main Methods:

• Combined simultaneous multislice (SMS) imaging with multislice-to-volume-based image registration in fMRI.
• Achieved sub-TR motion detection by registering simultaneously excited slices to a reference volume.
• Evaluated the technique in three human BOLD fMRI studies, comparing it to conventional prospective and retrospective motion correction.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a reduction in residual motion parameters by up to 50% compared to conventional prospective motion correction.
• Showed high consistency in temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) and brain activation results before and after retrospective correction.
• Observed potential for improved tSNR in cases of significant intra-volume motion due to enhanced temporal resolution.

Conclusions:

• The proposed SMS-based prospective motion correction technique effectively reduces motion artifacts in fMRI.
• The method offers improved temporal resolution for motion detection and correction.
• This advancement enhances the robustness and reliability of fMRI studies, particularly in challenging motion scenarios.