A phased array echoplanar imaging system for fMRI.
A fully parallel, simultaneous sampling phased array receiver system for a clinical echoplanar imaging system is described and evaluated for BOLD activation and relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) experiments. A 4-coil array curved around the occipital lobe improved SNR by factors of 1.5 in the visual cortex and 3.1 in the visual association cortex relative to a 13-cm diameter surface coil, improving the statistical significance and coverage of visual activation maps. A 4-coil bilateral array increased SNR throughout the head relative to a quadrature head coil by up to a factor of 5 in much of the cortex, with proportional improvement in the SNR of rCBV maps.
Frederick B deB
McLean Hospital, Brain Imaging Center, Belmont, MA 02478, USA. frederic@kuru.mclean.org
Wald
L L
LL
Maas
L C
LC
Renshaw
P F
PF
D000328:Adult; D001810:Blood Volume; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*