High-resolution whole brain multi-shell diffusion MRI at 5.0 Tesla

Motivation: In neuroscientific researches, 3T DWI provides limited resolution while 7T DWI suffers from challenges such as shorter relaxation time and increased field inhomogeneity. Goal(s): To evaluate the performance of 5T in high-resolution whole brain multi-shell DWI. Approach: 1.1 mm-isotropic whole brain DWI with 2 shells was acquired using multi-band single-shot 2D EPI on 5T. DTI metrics and MSMT-CSD model were computed. The nearly identical acquisition parameters and data processing were applied to the same subject on 3T. Results: 5T DWI resolved brain structural connectivity more accurately than 3T. Better FA contrast was observed at 5T, demonstrating higher SNR achieved at 5T. Impact: The feasibility of simultaneously achieving high spatial resolution and adequate q-space sampling in practical acquisition time at 5T demonstrated its potential as a new tool in DWI-based neuroscientific studies.