Motion correction for magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with 3D radial acquisitions

1. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system for effecting magnetic resonance (MR) images with reduced motion artifacts, said MRI system comprising:

an MRI gantry including a static magnetic field coil, gradient magnetic field coils, at least one radio frequency (RF) coil configured to transmit RF signals into an imaging volume and/or to receive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) RF signals from an object located in the imaging volume; and

at least one digital data processor coupled to receive digitized MR data from said at least one RF coil, said at least one processor being configured to:

acquire a plurality of k-space data sets, each k-space data set being acquired by traversing a plurality of radial trajectories of locations in three-dimensional (3D) k-space;

generate a plurality of 3D MR images, each 3D MR image derived from a k-space populated by a respective one of the k-space data sets;

align the 3D MR images with respect to each other;

determine one or more motion parameters for the object based upon the aligning;

modify, using the determined one or more motion parameters, values of at least one of the acquired k-space data sets;

generate a motion-corrected 3D MR image by constructing it from a set of corrected sets of acquired k-space data including the modified values; and

output the motion-corrected 3D MR image to a display, a data storage, or to a data transmission port.

2. The MRI system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a sequence controller configured to apply an MR sequence comprising a plurality of labeling pulses to the object,

wherein each of the acquired k-space data sets is acquired after a respective application of the plurality of labeling pulses.

3. The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the MR sequence comprises at least one background suppression radio frequency pulse preceding the plurality of labeling pulses.

4. The MRI system of claim 2 , wherein the MR sequence includes a pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (PCASL) sequence.

5. The MRI system of claim 1 , further comprising an interface for configuring the MR sequence performed by the sequence controller.

6. The MRI system of claim 1 , wherein respective ones of the radial trajectories include a center of k-space.

7. The MRI system of claim 6 , wherein said each of the radial trajectories include the origin location of k-space.

8. The MRI system of claim 1 , further comprising an interface for configuring one or more parameters for 3D radial acquisitions,

wherein for each k-space data set, the traversed plurality of radial trajectories correspond to the configured one or more parameters.

9. The MRI system of claim 8 , wherein the configured one or more parameters include at least one pattern for three dimensional radial acquisitions,

wherein for each k-space data set, the traversed plurality of radial trajectories correspond to the at least one pattern.

10. The MRI system of claim 1 , wherein each of the k-space data sets under samples k-space.

11. The MRI system of claim 1 , wherein said each k-space data set comprises radial trajectories substantially evenly distributed throughout k-space.

12. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method for effecting magnetic resonance (MR) images with reduced motion artifacts, said MRI method comprising:

placing an object into an MRI gantry including a static magnetic field coil, gradient magnetic field coils, at least one radio frequency (RF) coil configured to transmit RF signals into an imaging volume and/or to receive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) RF signals from said object when located in the imaging volume;

acquiring a plurality of k-space data sets, each k-space data set being acquired by traversing a plurality of radial trajectories of locations in three-dimensional (3D) k-space;

generating a plurality of 3D MR images, each 3D MR image derived from a k-space populated by a respective one of the k-space data sets;

aligning the 3D MR images with respect to each other;

determining one or more motion parameters for the object based upon the aligning;

modifying, using the determined one or more motion parameters, values of at least one of the acquired k-space data sets;

generating a motion-corrected 3D MR image by constructing it from a set of corrected sets of acquired k-space data including the modified values; and

outputting the motion-corrected 3D MR image to a display, a data storage, or to a data transmission port.

13. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, having executable computer program instructions recorded thereon, which when executed by at least one processor of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system having an MRI gantry including a static magnetic field coil, gradient magnetic field coils, at least one radio frequency (RF) coil configured to transmit RF signals into an imaging volume and/or to receive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) RF signals from an object located in the imaging volume, causes the at least one processor to generate a diagnostic image having reduced motion artifacts, by performing operations comprising:

acquiring a plurality of k-space data sets, each k-space data set being acquired by traversing a plurality of radial trajectories of locations in three-dimensional (3D) k-space;

generating a plurality of 3D MR images, each 3D MR image derived from a k-space populated by a respective one of the k-space data sets;

aligning the 3D MR images with respect to each other;

determining one or more motion parameters for the object based upon the aligning;

modifying, using the determined one or more motion parameters, values of at least one of the acquired k-space data sets;

generating a motion-corrected 3D MR image by constructing it from a set of corrected sets of acquired k-space data including the modified values; and

outputting the motion-corrected 3D MR image to a display, a data storage, or to a data transmission port.