T2 weighted fMRI has been shown to provide higher spatial specificity than commonly used T2* contrast. However, 2D-spin-echo-EPI method, which is the most commonly employed approach, suffers from a low functional mapping contrast. Versions of single-shot 3D-GRASE sequence provide improvements in fMRI contrast, but suffer limitations particularly at ultrahigh magnetic fields due to shorter T2. To solve this problem, a new multi-slab version of the 3D-GRASE sequence with and without the capability of inner-volume selection, abbreviated as ivmsGRASE and msGRASE, respectively, are proposed. The theoretical and practical considerations of these methods in comparison with spin-echo-EPI for fMRI application are presented.
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