Motion-Corrected Distortion Reduction Around Metallic Implant Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging at 3T

Motivation: The presence of metallic implants results in severe geometric distortion, limiting the ability of performing quantitative DTI measurement near the hardware. Goal(s): Goal: develop an acquisition method to address metal artifact DTI on post-operative patients with metallic hardware. Approach: A custom-built pulse sequence based on the combination of the reduced-Field-Of-View strategy and multi-shot EPI is suggested. Results: : In-vivo and in-vitro results show that the proposed approach provides distortion-reduced and signal void at the level of the metal hardware compared to the standard method. Impact: The ability of collecting reduced metal-artifact DTI maps around the hardware enables establishing imaging biomarkers to assess injury evolution and thoroughly evaluate microstructure changes after surgery.