MRI image distortion reduction for MRI images of a recipient having an implantable medical device

A method of obtaining a new MRI image of a recipient of an implantable medical device, the method comprising:

• generating a first MRI image by scanning a first scan slice of the recipient with an MRI machine set at a first fat shift direction;
• generating a second MRI image by repeating the scan of the first scan slice with the MRI machine set at a second fat shift direction, approximately opposite to the first fat shift direction;
• and
• generating a new MRI image based on the first MRI image and the second MRI image.

A method for generating a set of MRI images of a region of a recipient in which an implanted medical device having magnetic properties is located, the method comprising:

• obtaining a first set of MRI images of the region of the recipient, the first set of MRI images comprising a plurality of MRI images obtained by MRI scanning a first plurality of scan slices of the recipient using a first fat shift direction, wherein at least one MRI image of the first set of MRI images includes an artifact resulting from the implanted medical device;
• obtaining a second set of MRI images, the second set of MRI images comprising a plurality of MRI images obtained by MRI scanning a second plurality of scan slices of the recipient using a second fat shift direction approximately opposite to the first fat shift direction, wherein at least a first scan slice of the second plurality of respective scan slices is the same scan slice as a scan slice of the first plurality of respective scan slices;
• and
• generating a third set of MRI images by selecting a sub-set of MRI images from the first set of MRI images and a sub-set of MRI images from the second set of MRI images and combining the sub-sets,
• wherein the third set includes an MRI image corresponding to the first scan slice, and
• wherein the size of the artifact of an MRI image of the third set corresponding to the first scan slice is reduced as compared to the size of the artifact of the MRI image of the first set of the first scan slice or the size of the artifact of the MRI image of the second set of the first scan slice.