An Investigation of Motion Correction Algorithms for Pediatric Spinal Cord DTI in Normals & Patients with SCI

Nadia Barakat¹, Devon Middleton¹, Louis Hunter², Jrgen Finsterbusch³, Scott Faro¹, Mj Mulcahey², Amer Samdani², Feroze Mohamed¹

Motion correction by image registration is important in the interpretation of medical images and plays a crucial role in diagnosis and treatment planning. Efforts can be made to reduce a subject's motion, such as using sedation, cardiac gating, and respiratory compensation. However, especially in pediatric imaging, these methods can become cumbersome and increase the patient's time in the scanner. The goal of this study was to (1) determine a reliable motion correction method for spinal cord Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and (2) show the effects of motion correction on DTI parameters in the normal and the injured SC.