MR image artifacts from periodic motion.

Artifacts due to periodic motion during the acquisition of magnetic resonance (MR) images have been studied. A mechanical device was constructed to oscillate a small sample along any line within a 0.15-T Technicare imager. Two- and three-dimensional images were obtained using various frequencies and amplitudes of oscillation. Computer simulations of these experiments yielded images which agreed with the experiments. We demonstrated that movement influences MR images locally through blurring, and also generates ghost artifacts along the phase-encoding directions of the Fourier transform imaging technique.