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Abstract #2350

A Search for an Optimal Neuronal Marker for Spinal Cord FMRI

Kenneth A. Weber II1, 2, Yufen Chen1, Xue Wang1, Todd B. Parrish1

1Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States; 2Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States

Spinal cord fMRI has lagged behind brain fMRI due to technical difficulties including magnetic susceptibilities at bone-tissue interfaces, the small dimensions of the spinal cord, and physiological noise. Gradient echo EPI (GE EPI) based BOLD fMRI is sensitive to differences in magnetic field susceptibilities at bone-tissue interfaces, which results in signal loss and image distortion. This study investigates steady state free precession, proton density spin-echo EPI, and short TE half-Fourier single-shot turbo spin-echo sequences for functional neuroimaging in the motor cortex to determine their potential for spinal cord fMRI. These data were compared to conventional GE EPI based BOLD fMRI.

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Keywords

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