Correction of spatial distortion in MR imaging: a prerequisite for accurate stereotaxy.

With magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, accurate spatial information--critical for effective stereotaxy--demands a homogeneous static field and linear gradients. Inhomogeneities and nonlinearities induced by eddy currents during the pulse sequences distort the images and produce spurious displacements of the stereotactic coordinates in both the x-y plane and the z axis. These errors in position can be assessed by means of two phantoms placed within the stereotactic guidance system--a "two-dimensional phantom" displaying "pincushion" distortion in the image (i.e., x, y) plane, and the "three-dimensional phantom" displaying displacement, warp, and tilt of the image plane itself. The pincushion distortion can be "corrected" (reducing displacements from 5 to 1-2 mm) by calculations based on modeling the distortion as a fourth order two-dimensional polynomial. Based on these corrected images, errors in the z coordinate and tilt of image planes may be corrected by adjustment of the gradient shimming currents. Such correction not only implements stereotaxy under MR guidance but also provides for the accurate transfer of anatomic/pathologic information between MR and CT images.