Functional magnetic resonance neuroimaging data acquisition techniques

Functional MRI studies of human brain require rapid data acquisition techniques, to map dynamic changes with sufficient anatomical coverage. In addition, task activation studies employing functional MRI require a high scan sensitivity, in order to discriminate the small, activation-related signal changes from background noise. An overview is given of current fast scan methods, which are sensitized to detect susceptibility changes related to task-induced changes in blood oxygenation. Sources of artifacts are discussed, as well as their effect on image quality.