Comparison between functional magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5 and 3 Tesla: effect of increased field strength on 4 paradigms used during presurgical work-up.

Objectives: We sought to evaluate the benefit of 3 T compared with 1.5 T during presurgical functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Materials And Methods: Six participants performed a motor, a visual, and 2 language paradigms both at 1.5 and 3 T. The number of activated voxels, mean t-value, and assessment of language dominancy were compared between both field strengths. Group analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of field strength on the cortical language activation patterns.

Results: The number of activated voxels and mean t-values were significantly higher at 3 T for all paradigms. Using the same statistical threshold, language activation was significantly less lateralized, and more activation zones were depicted at 3 T compared with 1.5 T.

Conclusions: Sensitivity associated with visual, motor and language functional magnetic resonance imaging increased significantly at 3 T. Additional cortical areas were depicted during language processing at 3 T. For assessment of language dominancy, usage of more stringent statistical thresholds at 3 T is suggested.