Non-linear Realignment Using Minimum Deformation Averaging for Single-subject fMRI at Ultra-high Field

Motion dominates the contribution to variance in fMRI time series and it is therefore important to account for this variability correctly. Currently, most correction schemes use a rigid body realignment procedure, but interactions with magnetic field inhomogeneities and physiological fluctuations lead to non-linear deformations. Non-linear realignment increased spatial resolution by harvesting sub-voxel shift information with little impact on tSNR. Activated regions showed a better delineation with a clear match to anatomical features. Importantly, our proposed method can be applied to already acquired fMRI data sets to improve spatial conspicuity. This work was accepted at ISMRM 2017 🙂

The code can be found here: https://github.com/CAISR/volgenmodel-nipype