Clinical evaluation of scout accelerated motion estimation and reduction (SAMER) for brain MRI in non-sedated children: initial clinical experience.

BACKGROUND

The scout accelerated motion estimation and reduction (SAMER) method has been developed to achieve rapid retrospective motion correction and may be advantageous in pediatric imaging to mitigate motion artifacts.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the efficacy of SAMER for motion correction of brain imaging in awake pediatric patients.

METHODS

In this institutional review board (IRB) approved and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant prospective study, 33 pediatric patients were scanned on a 3-T MRI system in the outpatient setting. The imaging protocol included an accelerated 3D T1-weighted SAMER MPRAGE research sequence acquired in 2 min 37 s. Retrospective reconstructions of the T1-weighted MPRAGE data were performed with and without SAMER motion correction. Reconstructed image pairs were reviewed side-by-side by two board-certified neuroradiologists in a blinded manner and graded for motion artifacts using a 5-point scale. The improvement in motion score was calculated by subtracting the post-correction score from the pre-correction score.

RESULTS

Without SAMER motion correction, 24 out of 33 cases (73%) showed motion artifact (21% (7/33) minimal, 27%(9/33) mild, 9% (3/33) moderate, and 15% (5/33) severe). SAMER motion correction improved motion artifacts in 79% (19/24) of cases, improving the motion score by median of 3 vs. 2 for motion-corrected examinations using SAMER. After applying SAMER motion correction, 50% (4/8) of cases considered nondiagnostic due to motion were reclassified as diagnostic.

CONCLUSION

SAMER demonstrates potential for reducing motion artifacts in 3D T1-weighted MPRAGE brain MR images, with the most notable improvements occurring in cases of moderate to severe motion.