Investigating resting-state functional connectivity using passband bSSFP

Abstract

Resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) using blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) contrast has emerged as a valuable become an increasingly important tool for mapping inter and intra-hemispheric connectivity in normal and diseased brains. To date, most rsfMRI studies have exploited blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast using T2*- weighted gradient-echo (GE) EPI, which suffers from signal drops and image distortion due to magnetic susceptibility and inherent long TE. Alternatively, T2/T1- weighted passband balanced SSFP (bSSFP) has been promoted for distortion-free, high spatial resolution task-based functional imaging. In this study, we studied the capability of passband b-SSFP for rsfMRI. Resting-state networks (RSNs) of similar but different spatial and temporal pattern were identified, especially into areas near air sinus. (Abstract by ISMRM)