Motion-robust accelerated in-vivo CEST MRI of liver with keyhole k-space acquisition

Motivation: CEST MRI in liver faces significant challenges due to respiratory motion and vascular pulsation artifacts, with traditional respiratory gating proving insufficient for reliable metabolite quantification. Goal(s): To develop a robust motion correction method for accelerated CEST MRI acquisition in the liver region. Approach: Combined three key techniques: Savitzky-Golay filtering for spectral smoothing, Low-Rank Approximation of Z-spectra (LRAZ) for motion correction, and keyhole k-space reconstruction for faster acquisition. Results: The integrated approach achieved overall Z-spectral stability with improved quality, enabling reliable CEST quantification while maintaining shorter scan times through accelerated acquisition. Impact: This novel integration of motion correction techniques with accelerated acquisition enables motion-robust CEST imaging in the liver region, advancing our ability to study hepatic metabolism non-invasively while significantly reducing scan times in challenging anatomical regions.