Sub-millimeter bSSFP BOLD-fMRI accelerated with 3D stack-of-spirals at 9.4 T

This work aims to improve the speed of balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) acquisition with segmented 3D stack-of-spirals for functional brain studies at 9.4 T (see protocols.zip). Functional experiments were performed with full-field flickering checkerboard pattern (see radial_checkerboard.zip).  The resulting data were reconstructed using an iterative algorithm with corrections for system imperfections such as trajectory deviations and B0 inhomogeneity using SpiralReco package. In the first set of experiments, we evaluated the signal change and stability with respect to echo and repetition time for a full field checkerboard stimulus. To demonstrate the high spatio-temporal resolution of the developed method, the results of three optimized protocols at submillimeter resolution (0.6 mm & 0.8 mm) and at 1.2 mm isotropic resolution for whole brain coverage were performed. 

Data organization

TR/TE scans and high resolution scans: Sub-01[-06].tar.gz

.

├── anat                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            │   ├── GRE_TE16.nii.gz

│   └── T1w.nii.gz (skull stripped)

└── func

   ├── glm

   │   ├── smooth_0p6_moco_M397_peSpiral_R4_p6_run1_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat

   │   ├── smooth_0p8_moco_M414_peSpiral_R4_p8_run1_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat

   │   ├── smooth_1p0_moco_M418_peSpiral_R4_TE2_TR10_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat

   │   ├── smooth_1p0_moco_M420_peSpiral_R4_TE4_TR10_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat

   │   ├── smooth_1p0_moco_M425_peSpiral_R4_TE6_TR10_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat

   │   ├── smooth_1p0_moco_M428_peSpiral_R4_TE2_TR6_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat

   │   └── smooth_1p0_moco_M433_peSpiral_R4_TE2_TR8_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat

   ├── M397_peSpiral_R4_p6_run1_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

   ├── M414_peSpiral_R4_p8_run1_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

   ├── M418_peSpiral_R4_TE2_TR10_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

   ├── M420_peSpiral_R4_TE4_TR10_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

   ├── M425_peSpiral_R4_TE6_TR10_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

   ├── M428_peSpiral_R4_TE2_TR6_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

   └── M433_peSpiral_R4_TE2_TR8_vTR3_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

Whole brain: Sub-07.tar.gz

├── anat

│   └── T1w.nii (skull stripped)

└── func

   ├── M366_peSpiral_R4x2_1p2iso_ss_sWE_run_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

   ├── M377_peSpiral_R4x2_1p2iso_ss_sWE_run_B0MTI_DCFJackson.nii.gz

   ├── smooth_1p2_moco_M366_peSpiral_R4x2_1p2iso_ss_sWE_run_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat

   └── smooth_1p2_moco_M377_peSpiral_R4x2_1p2iso_ss_sWE_run_B0MTI_DCFJackson.feat