MRI brain mapping image analysis of oral and maxillofacial region by various sensory stimuli

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The aim of this study was to decide the adequate pulse sequence suitable for fMRI study of various sensory stimuli, and to establish the fixation of the head and image processing method, first of all. Secondly, we applied fMRI to the healthy volunteers on the tasks of gustatory stimulation and swallowing, and investigated the possibility of fMRI in the oral and maxillofacial region on clinical application.In 2000, first of all, we investigated the scanning method. We performed fMRI study of hand-grasping task by two pulse sequences, gradient echo type EPI(GE-EPI), and spin echo type EPI(SE-EPI), and compared the fMRI images by these two sequences. As a result, the specificity and accuracy of the signal detectability by SE-EPI were higher than those by GE-EPI. Therefore, we decided the SE-EPI sequence on the following study.The fixation of the head was performed by applying the hair-band and sponge to the head-coil and the head of the subjects. Visual stimulation and auditory stimulation were shut by using eye-mask and ear-plug.Image processing was performed by the software (Numaris) included in Magnetom Vision, and fMRI images were produced by the statistical calculation using z-score.Then, fMRI study by gustatory stimulation was performed. We used two tastants ; 1M NaCl and 3mM saccharin. These tastants were dropped into the oral cavity of the subjects through the tube, and fMRI scanning was done. As a result, pariental operculum, frontal operculum, and insula were mainly activated. There were no differences of activated areas between NaCl and saccharin.In 2001, fMRI by swallowing task was performed. Distilled water was injected into the oral cavity of the subjects at 3ml/sec. The subjects swallowed the water intermittently. As a result, primary motor cortex, and primary somatosensory cortex were mainly activated.