Ultrafast bold fMRI using single-shot spin-echo echo planar imaging

• DOI: 10.4103/0971-6203.48719
• Publication Date: 2009-03-14T09:19:04Z
• Authors: Said Boujraf; Paul Summers; Faouzi Belahsen; Klaas Prussmann; Spyros Kollias
• Keywords: Blood-oxygen-level dependent; Echo-planar imaging; Single shot; Blood oxygenation; Artifact (error); Flip angle; Functional Imaging

The choice of imaging parameters for functional MRI can have an impact on the accuracy localization by affecting image quality and degree blood oxygenation-dependent (BOLD) contrast achieved. By improving sampling efficiency, parallel acquisition techniques such as sensitivity encoding (SENSE) been used to shorten readout trains in single-shot (SS) echo planar (EPI). This has applied susceptibility artifact reduction spatial resolution. SENSE together with spin-echo (SS-SE) may also reduce off-resonance artifacts. goal this work was investigate BOLD response a SENSE-adapted SE-EPI three Tesla scanner. Whole-brain fMRI studies seven healthy right hand-dominant volunteers were carried out performed using SS-SE EPI sequence SENSE. data processed statistical parametric mapping. Both, group individual subject analyses performed. Individual average percentage maximal signal changes attributed effect M1 calculated all subjects function time. Corresponding activation maps sizes activated clusters calculated. Our results show that artifacts reduced use SENSE; acquired images free typical quadrature SS-EPI. Such measures are crucial at high field strengths. SS offers further benefits regard is more specific oxygenation microvasculature bed. Functional brain activity be investigated help spin magnetic fields.