Title: Correction of susceptibility-induced distortion in Diffusion Tensor Imaging with a moment-based phase unwrapping method

Authors: Qun Zhao, Jason Langley, Carlos Faraco, L. Stephen Miller

Addresses: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; BioImaging Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. ' Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA; BioImaging Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. ' Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA; BioImaging Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA. ' Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA; BioImaging Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

Abstract: Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is a powerful technique for non-invasive characterisation of normal and pathological tissues, however, it is vulnerable to geometric distortions caused by magnetic field inhomogeneity. In this work, we present a phase unwrapping method that is based on the method of moments. The algorithm is used to generate magnetic field maps and correct susceptibility-induced distortions. MR datasets were acquired using a 3T MRI scanner to investigate consistency of distortion correction by the proposed method. The results demonstrate the relative consistency of the resultant distortion correction, which is critical for longitudinal studies of human diseases using DTI.

Keywords: DTI; diffusion tensor imaging; distortion correction; phase unwrapping; susceptibility; geometric distortions; magnetic field inhomogeneity; human diseases.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFIPM.2009.027588

International Journal of Functional Informatics and Personalised Medicine, 2009 Vol.2 No.2, pp.136 - 149

Published online: 02 Aug 2009 *

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