Kan Chung, Stirnberg Rüdiger, Montequin Marcela, Gulban Omer Faruk, Morgan A Tyler, Bandettini Peter A, Huber Laurentius
NIH, Bethesda, USA.
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany.
Magn Reson Med. 2025 Aug;94(2):713-723. doi: 10.1002/mrm.30480. Epub 2025 Mar 13.
Registration of functional and structural data poses a challenge for high-resolution fMRI studies at 7 T. This study aims to develop a rapid acquisition method that provides distortion-matched, artifact-mitigated structural reference data.
We introduce an efficient sequence protocol termed T1234, which offers adjustable distortions. This includes data that match distortions of functional data and data that are free of distortions. This approach involves a T-weighted 2-inversion 3D-EPI sequence with four combinations of read and phase encoding directions optimized for high-resolution fMRI. A forward Bloch model was used for T quantification and protocol optimization. Fifteen participants were scanned at 7 T using both structural and functional protocols to evaluate the use of T1234.
Results from two protocols are presented. A fast distortion-free protocol reliably produced whole-brain segmentations at 0.8 mm isotropic resolution within 3:00-3:40 min. It demonstrates robustness across sessions, participants, and three different 7 T SIEMENS scanners. For a protocol with geometric distortions that matched functional data, T1234 facilitates layer-specific fMRI signal analysis with enhanced laminar precision.
This structural mapping approach enables precise registration with fMRI data. T1234 has been successfully implemented, validated, and tested, and is now available to users at our center and at over 50 centers worldwide.
在7T场强下进行高分辨率功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究时，功能和结构数据的配准是一项挑战。本研究旨在开发一种快速采集方法，以提供失真匹配、伪影减轻的结构参考数据。
我们引入了一种名为T1234的高效序列方案，该方案可提供可调节的失真。这包括与功能数据失真相匹配的数据和无失真的数据。该方法涉及一个T加权的2反转3D-EPI序列，其具有针对高分辨率fMRI优化的四种读出和相位编码方向组合。使用前向布洛赫模型进行T定量和方案优化。15名参与者在7T场强下使用结构和功能方案进行扫描，以评估T1234的使用情况。
展示了两种方案的结果。一种快速无失真方案在3:00 - 3:40分钟内以0.8毫米各向同性分辨率可靠地生成全脑分割。它在不同扫描时段、参与者以及三台不同的7T西门子扫描仪上都表现出稳健性。对于具有与功能数据匹配的几何失真的方案，T1234有助于进行具有更高层精度的层特异性fMRI信号分析。
这种结构映射方法能够与fMRI数据进行精确配准。T1234已成功实施、验证和测试，目前可供我们中心及全球50多个中心的用户使用。
