Human Layer-specific VASO fMRI at 5.0T Whole-body MRI Scanner: A Preliminary Study

Motivation: This study seeks to address the challenge of human layer-specific fMRI at 5.0T whole-body MRI scanner. Goal(s): Develop Layer-specific VASO fMRI based on the slice-selective slab-inversion vascular space occupancy (SS-SI VASO) pulse sequence at 5.0T scanner. Approach: The SS-SI VASO pulse sequence with GOIA RF pulse at 5.0T scanner has been developed with the five processing steps, including noise reduction with distribution corrected (NORDIC), motion correction, BOLD correction and contrast combination, quality measures, and functional activity. Results: The preliminary results have shown that the in vivo experiment of finger tapping for VASO fMRI at 5.0T scanner is feasible as similar as BOLD fMRI. Impact: The preliminary experiments provided by layer-specific VASO fMRI at 5.0T scanner can help scientists and doctors in accurately identifying and diagnosing primary motor cortex or other brain applications.