Magnetic Resonance Imaging Meets Fiber Optics: a Brief Investigation of Multimodal Studies on Fiber Optics-Based Diagnostic / Therapeutic Techniques and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

optics can be integrated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnostic systems to acquire valuable information on biological tissues and organs based on a magnetic field. In this article, we explored the combination of MRI and optical sensing/imaging techniques by classifying them into the following topics: 1) functional near-infrared spectroscopy with functional MRI for brain studies and brain disease diagnoses, 2) integration of fiber-optic molecular imaging and optogenetic stimulation with MRI, and 3) optical therapeutic applications with an MRI guidance system. Through these investigations, we believe that a combination of MRI and optical sensing/imaging techniques can be employed as both research methods for multidisciplinary studies and clinical diagnostic/therapeutic devices. oxygenated hemoglobin dynamics captured by fNIRS and BOLD fMRI in this experiment. ΔHbO-BOLD indicates a correlation between changes in BOLD fMRI signals and oxygenated hemoglobin measured by fNIRS. ΔHbR-BOLD indicates a correlation between changes in BOLD fMRI signals and deoxygenated hemoglobin measured by fNIRS. Deriving the relationship between hemodynamics measured by fNIRS and BOLD fMRI signals and acquiring a highly relevant brain region for the specific brain functions could be utilized to analyze brain activities and functions in more various scenarios compared with using MRI only. Reprint of figures in (32) is permitted by Springer Nature under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license.