Rapid and high-resolution bSSFP fMRI using 3D stack of spirals at 9.4 T

We explored the spatio-temporal resolution and coverage of bSSFP BOLD contrast using a highly segmented 3D spiral readout. The functional activation maps acquired with the novel functional contrast for full visual field checkerboard stimulus is presented at submillimeter resolutions (0.6 mm3 & 0.8 mm3) and at 1.2 mm3 for whole brain coverage. We also demonstrated rapid slice-selective water excitation using binomial pulses.