Robin Martin Heidemann1,
David A. Porter2, Alfred Anwander1, Thorsten Feiweier2,
Fernando Calamante3, Jaques-Donald Tournier3, Gabriele
Lohmann1, Heiko Meyer2, Thomas R. Knsche1,
Robert Turner1
1Max Planck
Institute for Human Cognitive & Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany; 2Siemens
Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany; 3Brain Research Institute,
Melbourne, Australia
Diffusion-weighted imaging using single-shot EPI at 7T is prone to a high level of susceptibility and blurring artefact, even when parallel imaging with a large acceleration factor is used. Multi-shot imaging using readout-segmented EPI has been shown to provide a substantial reduction in these artefacts, but previous applications of the method were restricted to localized studies of small brain regions. In this study, an extension of the technique is used, which provides whole brain coverage with high isotropic resolution and sufficient angular resolution to estimate fibre orientation density functions using spherical deconvolution.