Prospective motion correction with continuous gradient updates in diffusion weighted imaging

Despite the existence of numerous motion correction methods, head motion during MRI continues to be a major source of artifacts and can greatly reduce image quality. This applies particularly to diffusion weighted imaging, where strong gradients are applied during long encoding periods. These are necessary to encode microscopic movements. However, they also make the technique highly sensitive to bulk motion. In this work, we present a prospective motion correction method where all applied gradients are adjusted continuously to compensate for changes of the object position and ensure the desired phase evolution in the image coordinate frame. Additionally, in phantom experiments this new technique is used to reproduce motion artifacts with high accuracy by changing the position of the imaging frame relative to the measured object. In vivo measurements demonstrate the validity of the new correction method. Magn Reson Med, 2012. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.