Simultaneous fMRI Acquisition of Distributed Brain Regions with High Temporal Resolution

Jrgen Finsterbusch¹, ²

A single T2*-weighted echo-planar image of the human brain can be acquired within 50-80ms on standard whole-body MR system. In most fMRI experiments, distributed regions-of-interest are targeted and several slices must usually be acquired. Thus, the experiment’'s temporal resolution is reduced accordingly and the different regions-of-interest are not acquired at identical time points. With a tailored 2D-selective RF excitation, several small target volumes at dedicated locations can be excited and acquired in a single projection image for an appropriate image orientation. Thus, the different regions-of-interest can be acquired simultaneously with the high temporal resolution of a single-slice acquisition.