Motion-corrected MRI with DISORDER: Distributed and incoherent sample orders for reconstruction deblurring using encoding redundancy

Purpose: To enable rigid body motion-tolerant parallel volumetric magnetic resonance imaging by retrospective head motion correction on a variety of spatiotemporal scales and imaging sequences.

Theory and methods: Tolerance against rigid body motion is based on distributed and incoherent sampling orders for boosting a joint retrospective motion estimation and reconstruction framework. Motion resilience stems from the encoding redundancy in the data, as generally provided by the coil array. Hence, it does not require external sensors, navigators or training data, so the methodology is readily applicable to sequences using 3D encodings.

Results: Simulations are performed showing full inter-shot corrections for usual levels of in vivo motion, large number of shots, standard levels of noise and moderate acceleration factors. Feasibility of inter- and intra-shot corrections is shown under controlled motion in vivo. Practical efficacy is illustrated by high-quality results in most corrupted of 208 volumes from a series of 26 clinical pediatric examinations collected using standard protocols.

Conclusions: The proposed framework addresses the rigid motion problem in volumetric anatomical brain scans with sufficient encoding redundancy which has enabled reliable pediatric examinations without sedation.