Non-Cartesian 3D-SPARKLING vs Cartesian 3D-EPI encoding schemes for functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 7 Tesla.

The quest for higher spatial and/or temporal resolution in functional MRI (fMRI) while preserving a sufficient temporal signal-to-noise ratio (tSNR) has generated a tremendous amount of methodological contributions in the last decade ranging from Cartesian vs. non-Cartesian readouts, 2D vs. 3D acquisition strategies, parallel imaging and/or compressed sensing (CS) accelerations and simultaneous multi-slice acquisitions to cite a few.

Impact of field imperfections correction on BOLD sensitivity in 3D-SPARKLING fMRI data.

Purpose: Static and dynamic field imperfections are detrimental to functional MRI (fMRI) applications, especially at ultra-high magnetic fields (UHF). In this work, a field camera is used to assess the benefits of retrospectively correcting field perturbations on Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) sensitivity in non-Cartesian three-dimensional (3D)-SPARKLING fMRI acquisitions.

Methods: fMRI data were acquired at 1 mm and for a 2.