Abstract
Object
State-of-the-art MR techniques that rely on echo planar imaging (EPI), such as real-time fMRI, are limited in their applicability by both subject motion and B0 field inhomogeneities. The goal of this work is to demonstrate that in principle it is possible to accurately predict the B0 field inhomogeneities that occur during echo planar imaging in the presence of large scale head motion and apply this knowledge for distortion correction.
Materials and methods
In this work, prospective motion correction is combined with a field-prediction method and a method for correcting geometric distortions in EPI. To validate the methods, echo planar images were acquired of a custom-made phantom rotated to different angles relative to the B0 field. For each orientation, field maps were acquired for comparison with the field predictions.
Results
The calculated field maps are very similar to the measured field maps for all orientations used in the experiments. The root mean squared error (RMSE) of the difference maps was between 15 to 20 Hz. The quality of distortion correction using calculated field maps is comparable to distortion correction done with measured field maps.
Conclusion
The results suggest that distortion-free echo planar imaging of moving objects may be feasible if prospective motion correction is combined with a field inhomogeneity estimation approach.
Similar content being viewed by others
Abbreviations
- EPI:
-
Echo planar imaging
- GRE:
-
Gradient echo (gradient recalled echo)
- fMRI:
-
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
- ppm:
-
Parts per million
- PVC:
-
Polyvinyl chloride
References
Ogawa S, Lee TM, Nayak AS, Glynn P (1990) Oxygenation-sensitive contrast in magnetic resonance image of rodent brain at high magnetic fields. Magn Reson Med 14: 68–78
Friston KJ, Ashburner J, Frith CD, Poline JB, Heather JD, Frackowiak RSJ (1995) Spatial registration and normalization of images. Hum Brain Mapp 3: 165–189
Friston KJ, Williams S, Howard R, Frackowiak RSJ, Turner R (1996) Movement-related effects in fMRI time-series. Magn Reson Med 35: 346–355
Caparelli EC, Tomasi D, Ernst T (2005) The effect of small rotations on R2* measured with echo planar imaging. Neuroimage 24: 1164–1169
Jezzard P, Balaban RS (1995) Correction for geometric distortion in echo planar images from B0 field variations. Magn Reson Med 34: 65–73
Jezzard P, Clare S (1999) Sources of distortion in functional MRI data. Hum Brain Mapp 8: 80–85
Wu DH, Lewin JS, Duerk JL (1997) Inadequacy of motion correction algorithms in functional MRI: role of susceptibility-induced artifacts. J Magn Reson Imaging 7: 365–370
Thesen S, Heid O, Mueller E, Schad LR (2000) Prospective acquisition correction for head motion with image-based tracking for real-time fMRI. Magn Reson Med 44: 457–465
Zaitsev M, Dold C, Sakas G, Hennig J, Speck O (2006) Magnetic resonance imaging of freely moving objects: prospective real-time motion correction using an external optical motion tracking system. Neuroimage 31: 1038–1050
Speck O, Hennig J, Zaitsev M (2006) Prospective real-time slice-by-slice motion correction for fMRI in freely moving subjects. Magn Reson Mater Phy 19: 55–61
Andersson JLR, Hutton C, Ashburner J, Turner R, Friston K (2001) Modeling geometric deformations in EPI time series. Neuroimage 13: 903–919
Hillenbrand DF, Lo KM, Punchard WFB, Reese TG, Starewicz PM (2005) High-order MR shimming: a simulation study of the effectiveness of competing methods, using an established susceptibility model of the human head. Appl Magn Reson 29: 39–64
Zaitsev M, Hennig J, Speck O (2004) Point spread function mapping with parallel imaging techniques and high acceleration factors: fast, robust, and flexible method for echo-planar imaging distortion correction. Magn Reson Med 52: 1156–1166
Hutton C, Bork A, Josephs O, Deichmann R, Ashburner J, Turner R (2002) Image distortion correction in fMRI: a quantitative evaluation. Neuroimage 16: 217–240
Koch KM, Papademetris X, Rothman DL, de Graaf RA (2006) Rapid calculations of susceptibility-induced magnetostatic field perturbations for in vivo magnetic resonance. Phys Med Biol 51: 6381–6402
Marques JP, Bowtell R (2005) Application of a Fourier-based method for rapid calculation of field inhomogeneity due to spatial variation of magnetic susceptibility. Concepts Magn Reson B Magn Reson Eng 25(B): 65–78
Salomir R, de Senneville BD, Moonen CTW (2003) A fast calculation method for magnetic field inhomogeneity due to an arbitrary distribution of bulk susceptibility. Concepts Magn Reson B Magn Reson Eng 19: 26–34
Jackson JD, Fox RF (1999) Classical electrodynamics. Wiley, New York
Haacke ME, Brown RW (1999) Magnetic resonance imaging: physical principles and sequence design. Wiley
Lorentz HA (1915, reprint 2003) The theory of electrons and its application to the phenomena of light and heat. Courier Dover Publications, New York
Feynman RP, Leighton RB, Sands M (1975) The Feynman lectures on physics, Mainly electromagnetism and matter, vol 2. Addison-Wesley
Durrant CJ, Hertzberg MP, Kuchel PW (2003) Magnetic susceptibility: further insights into macroscopic and microscopic fields and the sphere of Lorentz. Concepts Magn Reson 18A: 72–95
Cheng YCN, Neelavalli J, Haacke EM (2009) Limitations of calculating field distributions and magnetic susceptibilities in MRI using a Fourier based method. Phys Med Biol 54: 1169–1189
Liu T, Spincemaille P, de Rochefort L, Kressler B, Wang Y (2009) Calculation of susceptibility through multiple orientation sampling (COSMOS): a method for conditioning the inverse problem from measured magnetic field map to susceptibility source image in MRI. Magn Reson Med 61: 196–204
Schenck JF (1996) The role of magnetic susceptibility in magnetic resonance imaging: MRI magnetic compatibility of the first and second kinds. Med Phys 23: 815–850
Jenkinson M, Wilson JL, Jezzard P (2004) Perturbation method for magnetic field calculations of nonconductive objects. Magn Reson Med 52: 471–477
Yoder DA, Zhao Y, Paschal CB, Fitzpatrick JM (2004) MRI simulator with object-specific field map calculations. Magn Reson Imaging 22: 315–328
Collins CM, Yang B, Yang QX, Smith MB (2002) Numerical calculations of the static magnetic field in three-dimensional multi-tissue models of the human head. Magn Reson Imaging 20: 413–424
Truong TK, Clymer BD, Chakeres DW, Schmalbrock P (2002) Three-dimensional numerical simulations of susceptibility-induced magnetic field inhomogeneities in the human head1. Magn Reson Imaging 20: 759–770
Ashburner J, Friston KJ (2005) Unified segmentation. NeuroImage 26: 839–851
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boegle, R., Maclaren, J. & Zaitsev, M. Combining prospective motion correction and distortion correction for EPI: towards a comprehensive correction of motion and susceptibility-induced artifacts. Magn Reson Mater Phy 23, 263–273 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-010-0225-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-010-0225-8