Pilot Tone-based Diaphragm Motion Estimation for Navigator-Triggered Magnetic Resonance Cholangiopancreatography

Motivation: Navigator-triggered MRCP suffers from respiratory motion due to long echo train. Pilot tone is a novel sensor to monitor physiological motion but has never been applied to obtain comprehensive motion information to improve MRCP. Goal(s): Develop a pilot tone-based diaphragm motion estimation framework. Approach: Design an adaptive correlation model and Kalman filter to estimate diaphragm motion using pilot tone during the period without navigators and make comparisons with trigger positions. Results: The framework enables estimation of diaphragm motion while maintaining continuity with the navigator-derived diaphragm position. The results expand the knowledge of motion effects in MRCP and offer insights for improving image quality. Impact: This study demonstrates that the pilot tone-based diaphragm motion estimation framework enables estimation of motion information associated with navigator-triggered MRCP acquisitions. These results have potential to improve image quality and workflow of MRCP scans.