COMPANY
Cerebriu
Healthcare technology company based in Copenhagen, Denmark
Founded 2018Copenhagen, Denmark
Determinants of motion artifacts in stroke MRI and their effect on human and AI interpretation
Product: Cerebriu Apollo Brain Company: Cerebriu
Motion artifacts and image quality in stroke MRI: associated factors and impact on AI and human diagnostic accuracy
European Radiology, 2025
Abstract
Objectives
To assess the prevalence of motion artifacts and the factors associated with them in a cohort of suspected stroke patients, and to determine their impact on diagnostic accuracy for both AI and radiologists.
Materials and methods
This retrospective cross-sectional study included brain MRI scans of consecutive adult suspected stroke patients from a non-comprehensive Danish stroke center between January and April 2020. An expert neuroradiologist identified acute ischemic, hemorrhagic, and space-occupying lesions as references. Two blinded radiology residents rated MRI image quality and motion artifacts. The diagnostic accuracy of a CE-marked deep learning tool was compared to that of radiology reports. Multivariate analysis examined associations between patient characteristics and motion artifacts.
Results
775 patients (68 years ± 16, 420 female) were included. Acute ischemic, hemorrhagic, and space-occupying lesions were found in 216 (27.9%), 12 (1.5%), and 20 (2.6%). Motion artifacts were present in 57 (7.4%). Increasing age (OR per decade, 1.60; 95% CI: 1.26, 2.09; p < 0.001) and limb motor symptoms (OR, 2.36; 95% CI: 1.32, 4.20; p = 0.003) were independently associated with motion artifacts in multivariate analysis. Motion artifacts significantly reduced the accuracy of detecting hemorrhage. This reduction was greater for the AI tool (from 88 to 67%; p < 0.001) than for radiology reports (from 100 to 93%; p < 0.001). Ischemic and space-occupying lesion detection was not significantly affected.
Conclusion
Motion artifacts are common in suspected stroke patients, particularly in the elderly and patients with motor symptoms, reducing accuracy for hemorrhage detection by both AI and radiologists.