Pilot Tone meets DISORDER: Improved data-driven motion-corrected brain MRI by leveraging Pilot Tone signal variations

Abstract

DISORDER is an established retrospective data driven motion correction approach that uses optimised phase encoding, but otherwise unmodified 3D acquisitions. It is highly effective, but requires multiple lines of k-space to be grouped together for each motion state to be estimated, and this limits temporal resolution. At 7T, head motion can also be detected by “Pilot Tone”, which is an injected RF signal picked up by each coil in the head receiver array, but a calibration step is required. Here we combine DISORDER and Pilot Tone to achieve integrated calibration and show that improved motion correction can result.