Motion Estimation and Retrospective Correction in 2D Cartesian Turbo Spin Echo Spine Scans

Motivation: Patient motion during spine MRI significantly degrades diagnostic utility. Goal(s): Demonstrate the benefits of an efficient retrospective motion correction technique across clinical 2D TSE spine protocols. Approach: A rapid low-resolution scout scan in combination with a small number of additional calibration lines are utilized for on-the-fly bulk motion estimation. Region-targeting coil-combination methods are used to model non-rigid motion in the spine. Generalized reconstructions are performed using locally rigid motion information. Results: Improved image quality for in vivo L- and C-spine scans utilizing partially non-rigid motion correction for instructed subject motion experiments. Impact: A strategy for performing motion estimation and correction in TSE spine imaging is proposed. Region-targeting coil-combination methods allow for isolation of different spatial sources of non-rigid motion. Improved image quality is demonstrated in vivo under supervised motion conditions.