Inherent Motion Correction for Multi-Shot Spiral Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Trong-Kha Truong¹

Multi-shot spiral imaging is a promising alternative to echo-planar imaging for high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging. However, subject motion in the presence of diffusion-weighting gradients causes phase inconsistencies among different shots, resulting in signal loss and aliasing artifacts in the reconstructed images. Such artifacts can be reduced by using a variable-density spiral trajectory or a navigator echo, however at the cost of a longer scan time. Here, we propose a novel iterative phase correction method that can inherently correct for these motion-induced phase errors with no scan time penalty.