Intermediate
Technical
IVT
motion artifact
Image distortion caused by patient movement during neuroimaging acquisition.
Full Definition
Motion artifacts are image distortions and signal anomalies that occur when patients move during neuroimaging scans, particularly problematic in functional MRI where temporal precision is critical. These artifacts can manifest as blurring, ghosting, signal dropout, or false activation patterns that confound statistical analyses. Motion correction algorithms, including realignment and scrubbing techniques, are essential preprocessing steps, though prevention through patient education and head restraint systems remains the preferred approach.
Usage
Usage note: Use 'motion artifact' (singular) for the phenomenon, 'motion artifacts' (plural) for multiple instances.
In Context
- "Excessive motion artifacts in the pediatric cohort required stringent quality control measures." — Data quality report
- "Motion artifact detection identified 15% of volumes for exclusion from the analysis." — Preprocessing pipeline documentation
Also known as
movement artifact
head motion
Don't confuse with
susceptibility artifact
wraparound artifact