CLINICAL APPLICATIONS OF FUNCTIONAL MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

Abstract

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has progressed from a research tool for mapping human brain activity into a proven constituent of clinical imaging. By exploiting the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal, fMRI offers a non-invasive means of localizing eloquent cortex, characterizing functional networks, and assessing disease related changes in brain function. Its most wise clinical role is presurgical mapping in patients going through resection of brain tumors or epileptogenic foci, where it reduces dependence on invasive procedure such as Wada test and intraoperative cortical stimulation. Developing applications extend to stroke recovery, neurodegenerative disease, psychiatric and pain disorders, increased backing by resting-state fmri, artificial intelligence-based analysis and multimodal imaging. This review condenses the physiological principles underlying fMRI, its acquisition and analysis techniques, its principle clinical applications, the role of the MRI technologist in delivering a diagnostic quality scan, and current restrictions and future directions relevant to trainee radiologists.