LAUSR

The spinal cord contains sensorimotor neural circuits of scientific and clinical interest. However, spinal cord functional MRI (fMRI) is significantly more technically demanding than brain fMRI, due primarily to its proximity to the lungs. Accelerated echo‐planar imaging (EPI) at 7 T is particularly vulnerable to k‐space phase inconsistencies induced by motion or B0 fluctuation, during either autocalibration signal (ACS) or time‐series acquisition. For 7 T brain fMRI, sensitivity to motion and B0 fluctuation can be reduced using a re‐ordered segmented EPI ACS based on the fast low‐angle excitation echo‐planar technique (FLEET). However, respiration‐induced B0 fluctuations (exceeding 100 Hz at C7) are greater, and fewer k‐space lines per slice are required for cervical spinal cord fMRI at 7 T, necessitating a separate evaluation of ACS methods.