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Updated: May 4, 2026
Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Skeletal Muscle Disease
Published on: December 18, 2016
Simultaneous multislice spectral-spatial excitations for reduced signal loss susceptibility artifact in BOLD
Robert J Anderson1, Benedikt A Poser, V Andrew Stenger
1Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Purpose:
Simultaneous multislice (SMS) imaging can significantly increase image acquisition rates and improve temporal resolution and contrast in gradient-echo blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) functional MRI (fMRI) experiments. Through-plane signal loss due to B(0) inhomogeneities at air-tissue interfaces limits fMRI of structures near the nasal cavity and ear canals. This study implemented spectral-spatial (SPSP) radiofrequency pulses for reduced through-plane signal loss across multiple simultaneously excited slices.
Theory And Methods:
Multiband (MB) and power independent of number of slices (PINS) methods are combined with SPSP excitation for signal loss compensation in slice-accelerated human brain imaging. Nine simultaneous slices of 5-mm thickness and 20 mm apart were excited using standard MB radiofrequency pulses and the proposed SPSP-SMS pulses, yielding coverage of 36 slices in four shots with 350-ms volume pulse repetition time. The pulses were compared in breath-hold fMRI at 3T.
Results:
The SPSP-SMS pulses recovered ∼45% of voxels with signal loss in standard SMS images. Activation in areas of signal recovery increased by 26.4% using a 12.6-ms SPSP-MB pulse and 20.3% using a 12.1-ms SPSP-PINS pulse.
Conclusions:
It is demonstrated that SPSP-SMS pulses can improve BOLD sensitivity in areas of signal loss across simultaneous multiple slices.
