IEEE transactions on medical imaging
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IEEE Trans Med Imaging · Oct 2016
Multi-Objective Memetic Search for Robust Motion and Distortion Correction in Diffusion MRI.
Effective image-based artifact correction is an essential step in the analysis of diffusion MR images. Many current approaches are based on retrospective registration, which becomes challenging in the realm of high b -values and low signal-to-noise ratio, rendering the corresponding correction schemes more and more ineffective. We propose a novel registration scheme based on memetic search optimization that allows for simultaneous exploitation of different signal intensity relationships between the images, leading to more robust registration results. ⋯ In contrast to the state-of-art methods, the median target registration error (TRE) stayed below the voxel size even for high b -values (3000 s ·mm-2 and higher) and low SNR conditions. We also demonstrate the increased precision in diffusion-derived quantities by evaluating Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) derived measures on a in vivo dataset with severe motion artifacts. These promising results will potentially inspire further studies on metaheuristic optimization in diffusion MRI artifact correction and image registration in general.