Dr. Robert Frost’s research focuses on improving the quality and efficiency of brain MRI through modification of the acquisition and image reconstruction. He has developed methods to accelerate the acquisition of high-resolution diffusion MRI and has used real-time feedback techniques that adapt to head movements during scans to maintain high image quality.
Head motion during MRI of the brain is widely recognized as a major problem in both clinical practice and neuroimaging research that radically reduces the value of the soft tissue contrasts accessible with MRI. When a single image is encoded over several minutes, small movements can easily cause artifacts that hinder clinical diagnoses and increase bias and variance in brain imaging research. Dr. Frost’s recent work with André van der Kouwe and his group focuses on prospective correction for head motion. This approach adjusts the image encoding in real-time to compensate for head movement, so that high-quality images are available immediately after the scan.
Education
PhD, MRI Physics, University of Oxford
Select Publications
1. Frost R, Wighton P, Karahanoğlu FI, Robertson RL, Grant PE, Fischl B, Tisdall MD, van der Kouwe A. Markerless high-frequency prospective motion correction for neuroanatomical MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2019 Jul;82(1):126-144.
2. Frost R, Hess AT, Okell TW, Chappell MA, Tisdall MD, van der Kouwe AJ, Jezzard P. Prospective motion correction and selective reacquisition using volumetric navigators for vessel-encoded arterial spin labeling dynamic angiography. Magn Reson Med. 2016 Nov;76(5):1420-1430.
3. Frost R, Miller KL, Tijssen RH, Porter DA, Jezzard P. 3D multi-slab diffusion-weighted readout-segmented EPI with real-time cardiac-reordered K-space acquisition. Magn Reson Med. 2014 Dec;72(6):1565-79.
Highlights
2015: Partial Fourier and simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) extensions of readout-segmented EPI from PhD research have been distributed by Siemens
2018: Invited ISMRM Educational Talk: “Image Encoding for Diffusion MRI,” ISMRM
2021: NIBIB R21 Trailblazer Award