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Abstract #1637

Improved Detection of Functional Connectivity MRI with 32-Channel Phased Array Head Coil

Sheeba Arnold1, Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli2, Steven Shannon1, John D. E. Gabrieli2, Christina Triantafyllou1,3

1A.A. Martinos Imaging Center, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT, Cambridge, MA, United States; 2Deparment of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, Cambridge, MA, United States; 3A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, MGH, Charlestown, MA, United States


Amongst the existing acquisition tools for functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI), 32-channel phased array head coil is yet to be evaluated at 3T. Our results demonstrate that in comparison to most commonly used receive coils (e.g. 12-channel) highly parallel multiple channel arrays offer increased sensitivity in detecting detailed connections in resting state networks such as the default mode network. Furthermore, the 32-channel coil proved to be significantly better than the 12-channel as revealed by graph theory analysis in terms of both global and local network efficiency.