Abstract #1082

Passband BSSFP: Functional Contrast Compared to GRE-EPI and SE-EPI at 3T.

Pl Erik Goa¹, Anders Kristoffersen¹, Michael H. Chappell², Rob H. Tijssen³, Asta K. Hberg⁴, Karla L. Miller³

¹Dept. of Medical Imaging, St. Olavs University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway; ²Dept. of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway; ³FMRIB Centre, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxon, United Kingdom; ⁴Dept. of Neuromedicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

The functional contrast in passband balanced steady-state free precession (pbSSFP) with 3D segmented EPI readout is compared to that of GRE-EPI and SE-EPI at 3T. For pbSSFP, TR is varied from 6.5 ms to 45 ms. Standard flickering checkerboard paradigm is used. We find that the best functional contrast is obtained at TR = 33 ms with corresponding EPI-factor of 40. At this TR, the functional contrast in pbSSFP is approximately half that of GRE-EPI and twice that of SE-EPI with otherwise comparable scan parameters. False detections due to banding artefacts are present in pbSSFP.