Accuracy of pulsed arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging in the human brain : tag width and timing effects

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is the only non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that allows absolute quantification of cerebral blood flow (CBF). It involves using radiofrequency pulses designed to invert the spins of water in arterial blood, effectively creating a magnetic bolus. This inverted blood can be considered an endogenous contrast agent; imaging as it traverses the vascular tree allows CBF measurements. Such types of experiments are especially useful for functional neuro-activation studies and in settings of neuropathology. Two flavors of ASL exist: continuous ASL and pulsed ASL. Pulsed ASL has the advantage of not requiring specialized imaging hardware, and can be performed using standard clinical scanners found in most hospitals. Pulsed ASL techniques, however, may yield inaccurate perfusion values and diminished perfusion sensitivity if appropriate labeling parameters are not chosen, particularly during global challenges such as hypercapnia. In this study, the accuracy of QUIPSS II (Quantitative Imaging of Perfusion using a Single Subtraction - second version) ASL for measuring flow changes during a global flow perturbation (hypercapnia) was assessed.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Bolar, Divya Sanam

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Richard D. Hoge and Elfar Adalsteinsson.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38673

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/38673