Fast voxel and structural MRI realignment to mitigate inter-acquisition motion for spectroscopy

Abstract

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) non-invasively measures the biochemical composition within a predefined brain region, enabling quantification of neurochemicals with biological and clinical relevance, such as N-acetylaspartate, creatine, choline, glutamate, and gamma-aminobutyric acid. However, accurate MRS quantification is compromised by subject motion displacing the prescribed location, a common problem during long scans or with motion-prone populations such as children and patients. Furthermore, displacement into bone tissue contaminates MRS data with noisy artifacts, often rendering them unusable. While promising solutions exist to address motion-related issues, many rely on specialized infrastructure and expertise available only at a limited number of research centers. We propose a fast and straightforward method that acquires a head scout (18 s) MRI sequence following potential motion, automatically repositions the prescribed voxel with the scanners built-in AutoAlign function, and realigns the T1-weighted image to the updated position for anatomical segmentation. Using voxels prescribed in the prefrontal cortex, thalamus, and left superior temporal gyrus, we demonstrated that this realignment method successfully restored displaced voxels to their intended locations, eliminating bone contamination while improving voxel targeting through greater overlap with intended regions and more consistent voxel placement across subjects. This solution offers a quick and practical way for correcting subject motion between scans by combining available tools that are readily accessible even to new users, while more sophisticated motion correction technologies continue to develop towards broader adoption.