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Abstract #3915

Whole brain BOLD functional MRI in the presence of metallic orthodontic braces

Yuankui Wu 1,2 , David Woods 3 , Moshe T. Stern 4 , Nicholas I.S. Blair 5 , Raag D. Airan 6 , James J. Pekar 1,7 , Peter C. M. van Zijl 1,7 , and Jun Hua 1,7

1 Neurosection, Div. of MRI Research, Dept. of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 2 Department of Medical Imaging, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, 3 Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, University of Maryland School of Dentistry, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 4 Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 5 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 6 Div. of Neuroradiology, Dept. of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 7 F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Gradient echo (GRE) EPI BOLD sequences are sensitive to susceptibility effects and render signal dropouts in the brain in the presence of metallic objects such as dental braces. This impedes the application of fMRI especially for studies involving teenage participants. T2prep-BOLD sequences use a readout similar to MPRAGE, which is much less sensitive to susceptibility effects. Here, we compare GRE-EPI and T2prep-BOLD in whole brain resting state fMRI scans in the presence of metallic orthodontic braces. T2prep-BOLD scans showed minimal dropout in the whole brain, and greater temporal SNR and BOLD sensitivity in the EPI dropout regions than GRE-EPI BOLD.

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