Gary Chiaray Lee1, Caroline Jordan2,
Carlos Ruiz3, Pamela Tiet3, Brian Hargreaves2,
Ben Inglis4, Steven Conolly1
1Berkeley/UCSF
Bioengineering Joint Graduate Group, Berkeley, CA, United States; 2Radiology,
Stanford University; 3Bioengineering, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA,
United States; 4Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Berkeley, CA
One difficulty with current EPI BOLD fMRI is poor T2*-weighted analysis near areas of strong field inhomogeneities. The magnetic susceptibility difference between air and tissue produces B0 field perturbations in the head, and may cause significant MRI artifacts, expecially for EPI. Here we develop in vivo susceptibility matching pyrolytic graphite foams for improving EPI near external air/tissue interfaces. We have verified these that foams are safe for patient use, and here we demonstrate that the foams can make partial Fourier acquisition techniques more robust, which can ultimately lead to faster acquisitions or higher resolutions for EPI BOLD fMRI.