# Assessing the use of Diffusion models for motion artifact correction in brain MRI

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.01418 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01418/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Medical imaging and segmentation, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models.
- Builds on 7 of its 15 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 3 Feb 2025.

## Placed in

- Diffusion models / [Medical imaging and segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/diffusion/medical-imaging-and-segmentation/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2006.11239/) (2020)
- [U-Net: Convolutional Networks for Biomedical Image Segmentation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1505.04597/) (2015)
- [Image-to-Image Translation with Conditional Adversarial Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1611.07004/) (2016)
- [Learning to Read Braille: Bridging the Tactile Reality Gap with Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.01182/) (2023)
- [Stacked U-Nets with Self-Assisted Priors Towards Robust Correction of Rigid Motion Artifact in Brain MRI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.06401/) (2021)
- [Learning MRI Artifact Removal With Unpaired Data](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.04604/) (2021)
- [Annealed Score-Based Diffusion Model for MR Motion Artifact Reduction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.03027/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [DIMA: DIffusing Motion Artifacts for unsupervised correction in brain MRI images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.06767/) (2025)
- [Evaluating the Safety of Deep Learning-Based Brain MRI Reconstruction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.28714/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Magnetic Resonance Imaging generally requires long exposure times, while being sensitive to patient motion, resulting in artifacts in the acquired images, which may hinder their diagnostic relevance. Despite research efforts to decrease the acquisition time, and designing efficient acquisition sequences, motion artifacts are still a persistent problem, pushing toward the need for the development of automatic motion artifact correction techniques. Recently, diffusion models have been proposed as a solution for the task at hand. While diffusion models can produce high-quality reconstructions, they are also susceptible to hallucination, which poses risks in diagnostic applications. In this study, we critically evaluate the use of diffusion models for correcting motion artifacts in 2D brain MRI scans. Using a popular benchmark dataset, we compare a diffusion model-based approach with state-of-the-art methods consisting of Unets trained in a supervised fashion on motion-affected images to reconstruct ground truth motion-free images. Our findings reveal mixed results: diffusion models can produce accurate predictions or generate harmful hallucinations in this context, depending on data heterogeneity and the acquisition planes considered as input.