Real-time fMRI using multi-band echo-volumar imaging with millimeter spatial resolution and sub-second temporal resolution at 3 tesla

Purpose: In this study we develop undersampled echo-volumar imaging (EVI) using multi-band/simultaneous multi-slab encoding in conjunction with multi-shot slab-segmentation to accelerate 3D encoding and to reduce the duration of EVI encoding within slabs. This approach combines the sampling efficiency of single-shot 3D encoding with the sensitivity advantage of multi-echo acquisition. We describe the pulse sequence development and characterize the spatial–temporal resolution limits and BOLD sensitivity of this approach for high-speed task-based and resting-state fMRI at 3 T. We study the feasibility of further acceleration using compressed sensing (CS) and assess compatibility with NORDIC denoising. Methods: Multi-band echo volumar imaging (MB-EVI) combines multi-band encoding of up to 6 slabs with CAIPI shifting, accelerated EVI encoding within slabs using up to 4-fold GRAPPA accelerations, 2-shot k_z-segmentation and partial Fourier acquisitions along the two phase-encoding dimensions. Task-based and resting-state fMRI at 3 Tesla was performed across a range of voxel sizes (between 1 and 3 mm isotropic), repetition times (118–650 ms), and number of slabs (up to 12). MB-EVI was compared with multi-slab EVI (MS-EVI) and multi-band-EPI (MB-EPI). Results: Image quality and temporal SNR of MB-EVI was comparable to MS-EVI when using 2–3 mm spatial resolution. High sensitivity for mapping task-based activation and resting-state connectivity at short TR was measured. Online deconvolution of T₂* signal decay markedly reduced spatial blurring and improved image contrast. The high temporal resolution of MB-EVI enabled sensitive mapping of high-frequency resting-state connectivity above 0.3 Hz with 3 mm isotropic voxel size (TR: 163 ms). Detection of task-based activation with 1 mm isotropic voxel size was feasible in scan times as short as 1 min 13 s. Compressed sensing with up to 2.4-fold retrospective undersampling showed negligible loss in image quality and moderate region-specific losses in BOLD sensitivity. NORDIC denoising significantly enhanced fMRI sensitivity without introducing image blurring. Conclusion: Combining MS-EVI with multi-band encoding enables high overall acceleration factors and provides flexibility for maximizing spatial–temporal resolution and volume coverage. The high BOLD sensitivity of this hybrid MB-EVI approach and its compatibility with online image reconstruction enables high spatial–temporal resolution real-time task-based and resting state fMRI.