Hiroshi Kawaguchi1, Takayuki Obata1, 2, Kazuki Kurihara3, Yosuke Takahashi3, Eiji Okada3, Hiroshi Ito1
1Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan; 2Research Center for Charged Particle Therapy, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan; 3Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Keio University, Yokohama, Japan
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) requires a realistic three-dimensional digital head phantom (based on the segmentation of anatomical head images) to improve the accuracy of image reconstruction and visualization of image data. We test several MR imaging protocols, i.e. T2-weighted (T2W), Fat saturated proton-density (FSPDW) and FIESTA image, for their suitability to extract the scalp, skull and CSF in the subarachnoid space to construct a digital head phantom for fNIRS. The combination of FIESTA and FSPDW produced more accurate results when segmenting the superficial tissues. Furthermore, the combined acquisition time of FIESTA and FSPDW is shorter than that of T2W.