Protocol to determine the optimal intraoral passive shim for minimisation of susceptibility artifact in human inferior frontal cortex

At higher static magnetic field (B₀) strengths (≥3 T), the study of human inferior frontal cortex (IFC) when utilising a variety of MRI techniques is severely hampered by the presence of susceptibility artifacts. This is particularly the case for blood oxygenation level-dependent functional MRI, where large signal voids are generally encountered in the frontal lobes. A previous study described an approach to artifact correction involving a mouth insert consisting of a prototype diamagnetic passive shim [Magn. Reson. Med. 48 (2002), 906]. Here we extend that method by investigating the effect of five different intraoral passive shims on B₀ homogeneity and echoplanar imaging susceptibility artifacts within the brain, and particularly the IFC, of six subjects. The optimal passive shim is shown to be subject- and study-specific, providing an average reduction in mean absolute B₀ offset within the IFC of 57%, along with a concomitant reduction in echoplanar susceptibility artifact. All subjects were at ease while wearing the intraoral shims. A 4-min in vivo protocol to determine the optimal passive shim from the available set, utilising intrinsic structural and B₀ subject data, is described and shown to be accurate and reliable.