We have recently developed and employed a Fast Gray Matter Acquisition T1 Inversion Recovery (FGATIR – pronounced F-gator) 3T MRI sequence to more reliably visualize the structures targeted in deep brain stimulation. You can see comparative screenshots of the FGATIR vs T1 and T2 FLAIR on the FGATIR page.

Coronal images of subcortical structures in the A) T1-w 3D MP-RAGE, B) T2-w 3D FLAIR, C) T1-w FGATIR, and a Sagittal image D) T1-w FGATIR with deformable atlas contours overlaid. The contour colors for the deformable atlas are (from most anterior to most posterior): striatum (blue), GPe (green), anterior commissure (black), GPi (red), optic tract (yellow), thalamus (green), various VL thalamic nuclei (green), STN (red), and SNr (black).

Learn more about Deep Brain Stimulation surgery.