Feasibility of simultaneous EEG-fMRI at 0.55 T: Recording, Denoising, and Functional Mapping

Simultaneous recording of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional MRI (fMRI) can provide a more complete view of brain function by merging high temporal and spatial resolutions. This proof-of-concept study presents initial evidence for the feasibility of simultaneous EEG-fMRI at 0.55T in a visual task. We characterize the gradient and ballistocardiogram (BCG) artifacts inherent to this environment and demonstrate that the lower field strength suggests a reduction in the magnitude of the BCG artifact compared to high-field (1.5T, 3T, 7T) systems. This reduction shows promise for facilitating effective denoising while preserving signal integrity. Furthermore, we tested a multimodal integration pipeline that uses the EEG power envelope to compute a predictor of the hemodynamic BOLD response, demonstrating the potential for EEG-based estimation of neurovascular coupling in this environment. We demonstrate that combined EEG-fMRI at 0.55T is feasible and represents a promising environment for multimodal neuroimaging.