Motion artifacts occur in which direction?

Motion artifacts primarily occur in the phase direction during imaging. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the phase encoding gradient is responsible for determining the position of the image along a specific axis. When a patient moves during the acquisition of images, it affects the phase of the signals being collected, leading to distortions in the final image.

When motion occurs, it can cause a misalignment of the data being collected in the phase encode direction, resulting in artifacts that may appear as blurring or streaking in the resulting images. This type of artifact is particularly noticeable in sequences that rely heavily on phase encoding. Therefore, understanding the role of motion in the phase encoding process is essential for preventing and mitigating these types of artifacts during MRI procedures.