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Abstract #0410

Characterization of Artifactual Correlation in Highly-Accelerated Simultaneous Multi-Slice (SMS) fMRI Acquisitions

Kawin Setsompop1, 2, Jonathan R. Polimeni1, 2, Himanshu Bhat3, Lawrence L. Wald1, 2

1A.A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, MGH, Charlestown, MA, United States; 2Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States; 3Siemens Medical Solutions, Charlestown, MA, United States

Simultaneous Multi-Slice (SMS) acquisition with blipped-CAIPI scheme has enabled dramatic reduction in imaging time for fMRI acquisitions, enabling high-resolution whole-brain acquisitions with short repetition times. The characterization of SMS acquisition performance is crucial to wide adoption of the technique. In this work, we examine an important source of artifact: spurious thermal noise correlation between aliased imaging voxels. This artifactual correlation can create undesirable bias in fMRI resting-state functional connectivity analysis. Here we provide a simple method for characterizing this artifactual correlation, which should aid in guiding the selection of appropriate slice- and inplane-acceleration factors for SMS acquisitions during protocol design.

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Keywords

accelerated acceleration accelerations achieved acquisition acquisitions added adoption aliased aliasing allowed amount another appropriate artifact artifacts assess assessing audience best bias biomedical blipped bottom brain calculation cause characterization characterizing clinicians close coefficient coefficients coils combination connectivity correlation correlations create crucial design dominant dramatic effectively enabled enabling even examine examining explaining final five fourth fully functional guiding half highest highly human important induced inter investigators isotropic kernel kernels leakage locations lowest lying magnitude maps medical metrics mild near nearby noise note occurs optimal pair pairs particularly penalty performance persists positions prior project proposed protocol protocols pseudo quantify reconstructed reconstruction reduce reduced reduction relatively remain repetition replica reported resolution respectively resting retained sampled scanner scheme schemes school scientists selection separation series sets short significantly similarity simple simulation simulations simultaneous slice slices smallest solutions source spatial spatially spurious still substantially superimposed support synthetic target thermal together trend trio undesirable various whole wide