Abstract #2683

A Practical Tracking System to Avoid Motion Artifacts

Michael Herbst¹, Julian Maclaren¹, Jan Gerrit Korvink^2,3, Maxim Zaitsev¹

¹Medical Physics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; ²Dept. of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; ³Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies (FRIAS), University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

Monitoring head motion is becoming a popular way to prevent motion artifacts in brain imaging. However, previously-described systems all have major practical problems. We present a new method that uses optical-tracking-tape, consisting of bend-sensitive optical fibre. The tape is attached to the head of the subject and used to identify motion for real-time data rejection. In comparison with other systems a major advantage of the tape is the setup time (3minutes). No time consuming calibration step is necessary and no direct line of sight on the patients head is required, which makes the system usable even with a enclosed headcoils.