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Evaluation of DISORDER: Retrospective Image Motion Correction for Volumetric Brain MRI in a Pediatric Setting
K Vecchiato1,2, A Egloff2, O Carney2,3
1From the Department for Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences (K.V., J.O.), Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience katy.vecchiato@kcl.ac.uk.
Background And Purpose:
Head motion causes image degradation in brain MR imaging examinations, negatively impacting image quality, especially in pediatric populations. Here, we used a retrospective motion correction technique in children and assessed image quality improvement for 3D MR imaging acquisitions.
Materials And Methods:
We prospectively acquired brain MR imaging at 3T using 3D sequences, T1-weighted MPRAGE, T2-weighted TSE, and FLAIR in 32 unsedated children, including 7 with epilepsy (age range, 2-18 years). We implemented a novel motion correction technique through a modification of k-space data acquisition: Distributed and Incoherent Sample Orders for Reconstruction Deblurring by using Encoding Redundancy (DISORDER). For each participant and technique, we obtained 3 reconstructions as acquired (Aq), after DISORDER motion correction (Di), and Di with additional outlier rejection (DiOut). We analyzed 288 images quantitatively, measuring 2 objective no-reference image quality metrics: gradient entropy (GE) and MPRAGE white matter (WM) homogeneity. As a qualitative metric, we presented blinded and randomized images to 2 expert neuroradiologists who scored them for clinical readability.
Results:
Both image quality metrics improved after motion correction for all modalities, and improvement correlated with the amount of intrascan motion. Neuroradiologists also considered the motion corrected images as of higher quality (Wilcoxon z = -3.164 for MPRAGE; z = -2.066 for TSE; z = -2.645 for FLAIR; all P < .05).
Conclusions:
Retrospective image motion correction with DISORDER increased image quality both from an objective and qualitative perspective. In 75% of sessions, at least 1 sequence was improved by this approach, indicating the benefit of this technique in unsedated children for both clinical and research environments.
Insights
A new motion correction technique, DISORDER, significantly improved brain MRI quality in children. This retrospective method enhances image clarity for both clinical and research applications in pediatric neuroimaging.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Pediatric Radiology
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Head motion during brain MRI degrades image quality, particularly in pediatric patients.
- This degradation impacts diagnostic accuracy and research data reliability.
- Effective motion correction is crucial for pediatric neuroimaging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the effectiveness of a novel retrospective motion correction technique, DISORDER, for 3D brain MRI in unsedated children.
- To evaluate improvements in image quality using objective and qualitative metrics.
- To determine the utility of DISORDER in clinical and research settings.
Main Methods:
- Prospective acquisition of 3T brain MRI (MPRAGE, TSE, FLAIR) in 32 unsedated children (age 2-18).
- Implementation of the DISORDER (Distributed and Incoherent Sample Orders for Reconstruction Deblurring by using Encoding Redundancy) technique for k-space data.
- Quantitative analysis using gradient entropy and white matter homogeneity; qualitative assessment by expert neuroradiologists.
Main Results:
- Motion correction using DISORDER significantly improved objective image quality metrics across all MRI sequences.
- Qualitative assessments by neuroradiologists confirmed higher image quality in motion-corrected scans.
- Image quality improvement correlated with the degree of intrascan head motion.
Conclusions:
- Retrospective motion correction with DISORDER effectively enhances 3D brain MRI quality in pediatric populations.
- The DISORDER technique offers substantial benefits for both clinical diagnosis and research in unsedated children.
- This approach improves image quality in a significant percentage of pediatric MRI sessions.
