A modified projection reconstruction trajectory for reduction of undersampling artifacts

Purpose: To reduce undersampling artifacts for a given number of repetitions of the projection reconstruction (PR) sequence by modifying its k-space trajectory to sample more mid-frequencies while reducing the sampling coverage of the peripheral spatial frequencies. Materials and Methods: The single k-space spoke measured per repetition in the standard PR was modified so that one complete and two partial spokes were measured per repetition but with decreased k-space extent. The point spread functions (PSFs) and undersampling artifacts of the modified PR were compared with those of the standard PR for various numbers of projections. Phantom and in vivo images were used to assess the relative performance. Results: PSF analysis indicated that the modified PR method provided reduced undersampling artifacts with somewhat reduced spatial resolution. The phantom and in vivo images corroborated this. Conclusion: The modified PR trajectory provides reduced undersampling artifact vs. the standard PR, particularly when the number of projections is limited and the artifact level is high.