Asset scanning

Imaging data was acquired at the UCSD Center for Functional MRI on a 3T GE shortbore scanner (GE MR750), equipped with an eight-channel high bandwidth receivers that allow for shorter readout times and reduced signal distortions and ventromedial signal dropout. A high-resolution anatomical image was obtained, which consisted of a sagittally acquired spoiled gradient recalled (SPGR) sequence (172 sagittal slices; FOV 25 cm; matrix: 192 × 256 (interpolated to 256 × 256); slices thickness: 1 mm; TR: 8 ms; TE: 3 ms; flip angel: 12). We used an 8-channel brain array coil to axially acquire T2*-weighted echo-planar images (EPI; 40 axial slices, FOV: 230 mm, matrix: 64 × 64; slice thickness: 3 mm; TR: 2 s; TE 30 ms; flip angle: 90). Rapid image T2* acquisition was obtained via GE’s ASSET scanning, a form of sensitivity encoding (SENSE), which uses parallel imaging reconstruction to allow for sub k-space sampling.

Imaging experiments were performed on a 3T GE CXK4 Magnet at the UCSD Imaging Center, which is equipped with 8 high-bandwidth receivers that allow for shorter readout times and reduced signal distortions and ventromedial signal dropout. Each one-hour session consisted of a three-plane scout scan and a standard anatomical protocol consisting of a sagittally acquired spoiled gradient recalled (SPGR) sequence (field of view, or FOV: 25.6 cm; matrix: 192x256; 172 sagittally acquired slices thickness: 1 mm; TR: 8ms; echo time, or TE: 3 ms; flip angle =12°). We used an 8-channel brain array coil to axially acquire T2*-weighted echo-planar images (EPI). The parameters for the EPI scans were: FOV: 24 cm; 64X64 matrix; 40 3.0 mm thick slices; 1.4 mm gap; TR=2 sec, TE=30 ms, flip angle = 90°. Rapid image acquisition was obtained via GE’s ASSET scanning, a form of sensitivity encoding (SENSE) which uses parallel imaging reconstruction to allow for sub k-space sampling.