Comparison of cardiac diffusion MRI using multiple prospective respiratory motion correction techniques.
Stephen Jermy1,2, Aaron Hess3, Zakariye Ashkir4
1Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Magnetic Resonance in Medicine
|September 15, 2025
Summary
A novel prospective motion correction system (MNav-CoS) with slice tracking effectively compensates for respiratory motion during cardiovascular diffusion tensor imaging (cDTI). This technique offers time-saving benefits and comparable results to other methods, enhancing clinical utility.
Area of Science:
- Medical Imaging
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Background:
- Respiratory motion significantly impacts cardiovascular diffusion tensor imaging (cDTI) quality.
- Accurate motion correction is crucial for reliable cDTI analysis in cardiac applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate a novel prospective motion correction system with slice tracking (MNav-CoS) for free-breathing cDTI.
- To compare MNav-CoS against three other respiratory motion correction techniques.
Main Methods:
- Ten healthy volunteers underwent cDTI using an M2SE sequence.
- MNav-CoS was compared with breath-holds (BH), respiratory gating (Gate), and single navigator slice tracking (Nav).
- Diffusion tensor metrics (MD, FA, HA) were calculated, and cardiac through-plane motion was estimated.
Main Results:
- MNav-CoS achieved comparable diffusion tensor metrics (MD, FA, HA) to other techniques.
- Free-breathing acquisitions with slice tracking were approximately three times shorter than BH.
- Average cardiac through-plane motion during free breathing was 6.2±1.7 mm.
Conclusions:
- MNav-CoS demonstrates comparable performance to existing respiratory motion correction methods.
- Prospective slice tracking offers time-saving advantages and compensates for through-plane motion.
- These techniques improve the clinical utility of cDTI by enabling longer acquisitions.
