Abstract #2682

Development of an optimized approach to spinal cord fMRI based on the combination of an ad hoc acquisition method and data analysis pipeline

Michela Fratini¹, Marta Moraschi², Laura Maugeri¹, Silvia Tommasin³, Mauro DiNuzzo², Julien Cohen-Adad⁴, Fabio Mangini⁵, Daniele Mascali⁶, and Federico Giove²

¹CNR-Nanotec, rome, Italy, ²Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Rome, Italy, ³Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy, ⁴Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada, ⁵Santa Lucia Foundation, Rome, Italy, ⁶Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi, rome, Italy

The spinal cord (SC) is the caudal extension of the Central Nervous System (CNS) and is responsible for several complex functions. Among imaging methods, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) represents the most promising tool for non-invasive investigation of SC functions/dysfunctions. However, the utilization of SC-fMRI is widely under-exploited, either due to challenges in acquiring good quality data, or to the lack of dedicated analysis tools. In this study, we implemented an optimized experimental approach and defined a pipeline for SC-fMRI data analysis. We validate such pipeline and investigate the impact of acquisition direction on noise removal.

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