System and method for performing motion-insensitive and quiet three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging

1. A method for generating motion-corrected medical images, comprising:

obtaining, via a processor, k-space data of a region of interest acquired by a magnetic resonance imaging system utilizing three-dimensional (3D) radial pulse sequence with zero echo time (ZTE) acquisition including optional magnetization preparation pulses;

sampling, via the processor, the k-space data to obtain a plurality of interleaved k-space segments;

reconstructing, via the processor, one or more interleaved k-space segments of the plurality of interleaved k-space segments to generate a respective motion navigator volume;

co-registering, via the processor, each respective motion navigator volume to estimate motion;

performing, via the processor, motion correction on the one or more interleaved k-space segments and their corresponding k-space trajectories; and

generating, via the processor, a motion-corrected volume from all of the motion corrected interleaved k-space segments and their corresponding motion corrected k-space trajectories.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 3D radial pulse sequence comprises the rotating ultra-fast imaging sequence (RUFIS), point-wise encoding time reduction with radial acquisition (PETRA), gradient-modulated ZTE, water- and fat-suppressed proton projection magnetic resonance imaging (WASPI) or hybrid filling of the dead-time gap (HYFI).

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each interleaved k-space segment of the plurality of interleaved k-space segments comprises a phyllotaxis-type trajectory or a AZTEK-type trajectory.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein co-registering each respective motion navigator volume comprises utilizing a rigid or affine transformation.

5. The method of claim 4 , comprising extracting rigid or affine motion parameters using machine learning or deep learning.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein co-registering each respective motion navigator volume comprises co-registering each respective motion navigator volume to the other motion navigator volumes.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein co-registering each respective motion navigator volume comprises co-registering each respective motion navigator volume to a static reference state.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the static reference state comprises a previous volume of the region of interest.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the static reference state comprises an initial state of the region of interest during the 3D radial pulse sequence.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the static reference state comprises a state the region of interest is at most of the time during the 3D radial pulse sequence.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing motion correction on the k-space data and the plurality of interleaved segments comprises correcting for both intra-scan motion and inter-scan motion.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein co-registering each respective motion navigator volume to estimate motion comprises decomposing a rigid motion into a rotational motion and a translational motion.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein co-registering each respective motion navigator volume to estimate motion comprises identifying a rotation of each motion navigator volume as a rotation in image space or k-space.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein co-registering each respective motion navigator volume to estimate motion comprises identifying translation as a translation in image space or phase ramp in k-space.

15. A medical image motion correction system, comprising:

processing circuitry configured to execute one or more stored routines, wherein the routines, when executed, cause the processing circuitry to:

obtain, via a processor, k-space data of a region of interest acquired by a magnetic resonance imaging system utilizing a three-dimensional (3D) radial pulse sequence with zero echo time acquisition including optional magnetization preparation pulses;

sample the k-space data utilizing an interleaved phyllotaxis-type 3D radial sampling pattern to obtain a plurality of interleaved k-space segments;

reconstruct one or more interleaved k-space segments of the plurality of k-space segments to generate a respective motion navigator volume;

co-register each respective motion navigator volume to estimate motion;

perform motion correction on the one or more interleaved k-space segments and their corresponding k-space trajectories; and

generate a motion-corrected volume from all of the motion corrected interleaved k-space segments and their corresponding motion corrected k-space trajectories.

16. The medical image motion correction system of claim 15 , wherein the routines, when executed, further cause the processing circuitry to:

co-register each respective motion navigator volume to estimate motion by identifying a rotation of each motion navigator volume in k-space magnitude data of the k-space data and identifying a translation as a phase ramp of each motion navigator volume in the k-space data.

17. The medical image motion correction system of claim 16 , wherein the routines, when executed, further cause the processing circuitry to:

perform motion correction on the k-space data and the plurality of interleaved segments by rotating a k-space trajectory by the rotation and applying the phase ramp to the k-space data for each motion navigator volume.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium comprising processor-executable code that when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

obtain, via a processor, k-space data of a region of interest acquired by a magnetic resonance imaging system utilizing both a three-dimensional (3D) radial pulse sequence and zero echo time acquisition;

sample the k-space data utilizing an interleaved phyllotaxis-type 3D radial sampling pattern to obtain a plurality of interleaved k-space segments;

reconstruct one or more interleaved k-space segments of the plurality of k-space segments to generate a respective motion navigator volume;

co-register each respective motion navigator volume to estimate motion;

perform motion correction on the one or more interleaved k-space segments and their corresponding k-space trajectories; and

generate a motion-corrected volume from all of the motion corrected interleaved k-space segments and their corresponding motion corrected k-space trajectories.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein the processor is further caused to co-register each respective motion navigator volume to estimate motion by identifying a rotation of each motion navigator volume in k-space magnitude data of the k-space data and identifying a translation as a phase ramp of each motion navigator volume in the k-space data.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the processor is further caused to perform motion correction on the k-space data and the plurality of interleaved segments by rotating a k-space trajectory by the rotation and applying the phase ramp to the k-space data for each motion navigator volume.