Functional magnetic resonance imaging of the human lumbar spinal cord.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether consistent regions of activity could be observed in the lumbar spinal cord of single subjects with spin-echo functional MRI (fMRI) if several repeated experiments were performed within a single imaging session.


METHODS
Repeated fMRI experiments of the human lumbar spinal cord were performed at 1.5 T with a single-shot spin-echo technique (half-Fourier single-shot turbo spin-echo (HASTE)) as used by previous investigators, and a modified method (fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR)-HASTE) that nulled the otherwise highly variable signal from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).


RESULTS
FLAIR-HASTE reduced the variability of the signal in the CSF region to background levels, and presumably reduced associated artifacts in the spinal cord. Consistent areas of activation in the spinal cord in response to a thermal stimulus just below the knee were not observed across the fMRI experiments with either method.


CONCLUSIONS
FLAIR-HASTE was useful for removing artifact in the spinal cord signal induced by variability in the CSF signal. However, with the techniques used in this study, we were not able to confirm the presence of a consistent fMRI response in the lumbar spinal cord because of the signal enhancement by extravascular protons (SEEP) effect during thermal stimulation of the hindlimb.
Moffitt
Michael A
MA
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Dale
Brian M
BM
Duerk
Jeffrey L
JL
Grill
Warren M
WM
D000328:Adult; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*