Marta Vidorreta1, Ze Wang2, Ignacio Rodrguez3, John A. Detre4, 5, Mara A. Fernndez-Seara1
1Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, CIMA, University of Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, Spain; 2Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 3Instituto de Estudios Biofuncionales, UCM, Madrid, Spain; 4Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 5Deparment of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
ASL can be implemented combining different labeling schemes and readout sequences. A consensus is emerging in the ASL community concerning the use of pseudo-continuous ASL as the optimum labeling strategy. However, there is no agreement to date on the choice of readout sequence. In this work, we have compared the performance of 3 different sequences: two background suppressed 3D fast spin echo based sequences (GRASE and FSE spiral) and the standard 2D EPI. The SNR of the 3D sequences is greatly improved with respect to 2D EPI. The spiral based readout offers a further increased in temporal SNR that translates in higher statistical power for task-activation studies.