Diffusion Tensor Imaging with View Angle Tilting Technique for Distortion Correction

Sinyeob Ahn¹, Ki Sueng Choi¹, Xiaoping Hu¹

Distortion in diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) causes inter-subject variance and intensity modulation, which hinders an accurate analysis of diffusion characteristics. View angle tilting (VAT) technique has been used to correct distortion in the readout direction in spin echo imaging. This work describes a method for correcting image distortion along the phase-encode (PE) direction using the VAT technique in twice-refocused DTI. Phase generated by the VAT gradient concurrently applied with the PE gradient offsets an unwanted phase by field inhomogeneity, leading to the correction of image distortion. B0 images and tractography were used to evaluate the performance of the proposed method.