Functional perfusion imaging using continuous arterial spin labeling with separate labeling and imaging coils at 3 T

Functional perfusion imaging with a separate labeling coil located above the common carotid artery was demonstrated in human volunteers at 3 T. A helmet resonator and a spin‐echo echo‐planar imaging (EPI) sequence were used for imaging, and a circular surface coil of 6 cm i.d. was employed for labeling. The subjects performed a finger‐tapping task. Signal differences between the condition of finger tapping and the resting state were between −0.5% and −1.1 % among the subjects. The imaging protocol included a long post‐label delay (PLD) to reduce transit time effects. Labeling was applied for all repetitions of the functional run to reduce the sampling interval. Magn Reson Med 49:791–795, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.