Online motion correction for diffusion-weighted segmented-EPI and FLASH imaging

This paper explores the application of online motion correction using navigator echoes to the segmented-EPI and FLASH techniques. In segmented EPI this has the advantage over post-acquisition correction that the position in k-space of each segment is no longer subject to arbitrary shifts caused by rotation. In diffusion-weighted FLASH it has the advantage that the full magnetisation can be utilised in comparison to other methods of eliminating the sensitivity to bulk motion, in which the sensitivity is halved. Healthy subjects were investigated on a 3 T whole-body system in which the hardware has been modified so that navigator echoes can be recorded on a personal computer which generates the necessary magnetic field gradient correction pulses and shifts in the Larmor frequency within 800 μs. ECG triggering was used to avoid the period of non-rigid-body brain motion. Two orthogonal navigator echoes were employed. For segmented EPI it was found essential to minimise the T2* weighting of the navigator echoes to about 10 ms to obtain reliable results. High quality images were obtained for both methods examined. Online motion correction brings direct benefits to both the diffusion-weighted segmented-EPI and FLASH techniques

Reengineered helmet coil for human brain studies at 3 tesla

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Continuous arterial spin labeling using a local magnetic field gradient coil

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Gene Diagnostics

Peer Reviewe

Online motion correction for diffusion-weighted imaging using navigator echoes: Application to RARE imaging without sensitivity loss

This article describes the first application of true online motion correction to diffusion-weighted RARE imaging. Two orthogonal navigator echoes were acquired and zeroth and first-order phase corrections applied in less than 8 ms between a diffusion-weighted magnetization preparation and data acquisition using the RARE sequence. The zeroth-order phase correction was realized by pulsing the system's B(0)-coil: the first-order error corrected with appropriate magnetic field gradient pulses. Online correction ensured that no irreversible signal loss could occur in the imaging experiment. Diffusion-weighted images of the brain were obtained from healthy volunteers. EGG-triggered acquisition was applied at 400 ms after the R-wave. Data were acquired on a matrix of 256 x 256 with a RARE factor of 16 and a b-value of 804 smm(-2). The images obtained with online motion correction showed a remarkably high image quality, while those acquired without motion correction were severely degraded by artifacts