Head motion compensation for arterial spin labeling using optical motion tracking

Abstract

Monitoring of Brain perfusion using Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) during thrombolysis is an example of an MR procedure that will take over one hour. During this time, patient head motion is inevitable. Among the solutions to this problem is motion tracking, which is used to provide the patient's head motion to the MRI scanner to compensate for this motion. We present an approach for head motion tracking which is designed to fit into clinical workflow: Blue paper dots are attached to the patient's forehead and tracked using a stereo camera setup which is mounted to the MRI head coil and easily removed and replaced. The core algorithms are explained and evaluated. Results from clinical experiments conclude the evaluation. © Springer-Verlag 2013.