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Artifact correction in diffusion MRI of non‐human primate brains on a clinical 3T scanner
Author(s) -
Zhang Xiaodong,
Kirsch John E.,
Zhong Xiaodong
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of medical primatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 1600-0684
pISSN - 0047-2565
DOI - 10.1111/jmp.12204
Subject(s) - diffusion mri , fractional anisotropy , macaque , artifact (error) , rhesus macaque , white matter , scanner , tractography , computer science , orientation (vector space) , magnetic resonance imaging , artificial intelligence , computer vision , neuroscience , medicine , biology , mathematics , radiology , geometry , immunology
Background Smearing artifacts were observed and investigated in diffusion tensor imaging ( DTI ) studies of macaque monkeys on a clinical whole‐body 3T scanner. Methods Four adult macaques were utilized to evaluate DTI artifacts. DTI images were acquired with a single‐shot echo‐planar imaging ( EPI ) sequence using a parallel imaging technique. Results The smearing artifacts observed on the diffusion‐weighted images and fractional anisotropy maps were caused by the incomplete fat suppression due to the irregular macaque frontal skull geometry and anatomy. The artifact can be reduced substantially using a novel three‐dimensional (3D) shimming procedure. Conclusion The smearing artifacts observed on diffusion weighted images and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps of macaque brains can be reduced substantially using a robust 3D shimming approach. The DTI protocol combined with the shimming procedure could be a robust approach to examine brain connectivity and white matter integrity of non‐human primates using a conventional clinical setting.