Motion during scan induces image quality degradation (blurred images, motion "ghost" artifacts) to a degree that may require repetition of the scan. The sensitivity to motion increases with newer imaging like functional and diffusional MRI and with higher resolution scanners. As 20-30% of all scans are affected by motion, the direct annual financial burden of motion artifacts, due to the need to repeat scans, is estimated at $1 Billion in the USA alone.

The EndoScout system has been intensively evaluated for motion tracking, aiming to eliminate the effect of motion on diagnostic imaging. Many of the diagnostic scans are adversely affected by subject motion, including scans of children, non-cooperative adults, and new modalities like functional and diffusion MRI that are sensitive even to a minimal level of motion like tremor. The sensitivity of MRI to motion requires many of the scans in small children and in non-cooperative adults to be conducted under sedation or anesthesia, which doubles and triples the cost of the diagnostic study, and involves substantial risks. Ongoing clinical studies of motion artifact elimination using the EndoScout tracking system are conducted at the Massachusetts General Hospital and at the Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston.

Clinical applications:

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