Task-Related Systemic Artifacts in Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy^.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a promising noninvasive neuroimaging technique for clinical applications.
• fNIRS offers advantages over functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for routine clinical use.
• Superficial tissue interference is a significant challenge in fNIRS, potentially limiting its accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate task-related systemic artifacts in high-density fNIRS montages.
• To compare signal associations between superficial (SS) and local (LS) channels over sensorimotor cortex during a hand clenching task.
• To provide guidelines for effective removal of SS signals in whole-head fNIRS montages.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a high-density fNIRS montage covering the sensorimotor cortex.
• Compared signal associations between LS and SS channels during a hand clenching task.
• Analyzed signals over contralateral (task-activated) and ipsilateral (non-task-activated) motor cortices.

Main Results:

• Identified task-related systemic artifacts in SS channels.
• Demonstrated differences in signal associations between LS and SS channels.
• Provided evidence supporting the removal of SS signals to attenuate systematic interference.

Conclusions:

• The removal of SS signals is a viable strategy to mitigate systematic interference in high-density fNIRS.
• Findings offer practical guidelines for optimizing fNIRS data processing for clinical applications.
• This research supports the advancement of fNIRS as a reliable clinical neuroimaging tool.