System and method for oscillatory eddy current correction for diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging

A system for correcting diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data, comprising:

• a memory encoding processor-executable routines;
• and
• a processor configured to access the memory and to execute the processor-executable routines, wherein the routines, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
• obtain a first reference scan with no diffusion gradients applied, a second reference scan with a diffusion gradient applied only along a frequency direction, a third reference scan with the diffusion gradient applied only along a phase direction, and a fourth reference scan with the diffusion gradient applied only along a slice direction acquired utilizing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth reference scans lack phase encoding;
• obtain diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data acquired utilizing the MRI scanner, wherein the diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data comprises phase errors due to oscillatory eddy currents causing time-varying B0 shift, wherein the first reference scan, the second reference scan, the third reference scan, the fourth reference scan, and the diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data are acquired of a subject during an imaging session;
• generate a phase correction factor based on the first, second, third, and fourth reference scans;
• and
• correct the phase errors due to the oscillatory eddy currents in the diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data independent of diffusion gradient direction utilizing the phase correction factor to generate corrected diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium comprising processor-executable code that when executed by a processor, causes the processor to:

• obtain a first reference scan with no diffusion gradients applied, a second reference scan with a diffusion gradient applied only along a frequency direction, a third reference scan with the diffusion gradient applied only along a phase direction, and a fourth reference scan with the diffusion gradient applied only along a slice direction acquired utilizing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner, wherein the first, second, third, and fourth reference scans lack phase encoding;
• obtain diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data acquired utilizing the MRI scanner, wherein the diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data comprises phase errors due to oscillatory eddy currents causing time-varying B0 shift, wherein the first reference scan, the second reference scan, the third reference scan, the fourth reference scan, and the diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data are acquired of a subject during an imaging session;
• generate a phase correction factor based on the first, second, third, and fourth reference scans;
• and
• correct the phase errors due to the oscillatory eddy currents in the diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data independent of diffusion gradient direction utilizing the phase correction factor to generate corrected diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging data.