Correction of out-of-FOV motion artifacts using convolutional neural network

Subject motion during MRI scan can result in severe degradation of image quality. Existing motion correction algorithms rely on the assumption that no information is missing during motions. However, this assumption does not hold when out-of-FOV motion happens. Currently available algorithms are not able to correct for image artifacts introduced by out-of-FOV motion. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating convolutional neural network (CNN) derived prior image into solving the out-of-FOV motion problem.

A modified U-net network was proposed to correct out-of-FOV motion artifacts by incorporating motion parameters into the loss function. A motion model based data fidelity term was applied in combination with the CNN prediction to further improve the motion correction performance. We trained the CNN on 1113 MPRAGE images with simulated oscillating and sudden motion trajectories, and compared our algorithm to a gradient-based autofocusing (AF) algorithm in both 2D and 3D images. Additional experiment was performed to demonstrate the feasibility of transferring the networks to different dataset. We also evaluated the robustness of this algorithm by adding Gaussian noise to the motion parameters. The motion correction performance was evaluated using mean square error (NMSE), peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index (SSIM).

The proposed algorithm outperformed AF-based algorithm for both 2D (NMSE: 0.0066 ± 0.0009 vs 0.0141 ± 0.008, P < .01; PSNR: 29.60 ± 0.74 vs 21.71 ± 0.27, P < .01; SSIM: 0.89 ± 0.014 vs 0.73 ± 0.004, P < .01) and 3D imaging (NMSE: 0.0067 ± 0.0008 vs 0.070 ± 0.021, P < .01; PSNR: 32.40 ± 1.63 vs 22.32 ± 2.378, P < .01; SSIM: 0.89 ± 0.01 vs 0.62 ± 0.03, P < .01). Robust reconstruction was achieved with 20% data missed due to the out-of-FOV motion.

In conclusion, the proposed CNN-based motion correction algorithm can significantly reduce out-of-FOV motion artifacts and achieve better image quality compared to AF-based algorithm.