We develop image acquisition and reconstruction techniques for functional MRI. These methods aim to provide higher spatial and temporal resolution, as well as greater sensitivity to brain activity.
Functional MRI detects brain activity based on changes in local oxygen content, which alter the MRI signal level. Conventional FMRI methods have a number of limitations, including image artefacts, limited acquisition speed and sub-optimal image resolution. Our group develops methods to improve FMRI data quality.
We are interested in techniques for high-spatial-resolution FMRI, including “true” 3D acquisitions. These techniques have great potential for high-resolution imaging, particularly at 7T. Improvements to 3D FMRI have included novel signal contrast using steady-state free precession (SSFP) and physiological noise corrections.
We are exploring methods for reconstructing time series of FMR images from undersampled data, which has great promise to provide faster imaging speed. This includes methods that rely on multi-channel RF receiver coils, as well as methods that exploit the redundancy of information intrinsic to coherent signal fluctuations (e.g., due to brain activity).
View our publications.
This research is conducted as part of the Physics Group at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging.
