Time- and Signal-Efficient 3T Ultra-High-Resolution Imaging of the Ex Vivo Cerebellum and Entire Human Brain

Ex Vivo MRI of the entire human brain facilitates new and fascinating insights into cerebral and cerebellar morphology and pathology. One key factor for achieving ultra-high spatial resolutions is a signal- and time-efficient MRI sequence, particularly, at 3T field strength. Though counterintuitive at first notion, we suggest a “slow” balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) approach with phase-cycling and very low receiver bandwidth (“LoBa-bSSFP”) as a highly signal- and time-efficient scheme for ex vivo acquisitions. LoBa-bSSFP can support spatial resolutions as high as 98-microns isotropic for covering the entire cerebellum on a common 3T MR system.