Open AccessHigh resolution continuous arterial spin labeling of human cerebral perfusion using a separate neck tagging RF coil
Author(s) -
María Guadalupe Mora Álvarez,
Robert W. Stobbe,
Christian Beaulieu
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0215998
Subject(s) - voxel , perfusion , cerebral blood flow , image resolution , partial volume , nuclear medicine , temporal resolution , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance , biomedical engineering , perfusion scanning , high resolution , medicine , radiology , computer science , physics , optics , cardiology , artificial intelligence , remote sensing , geology
For standard clinical applications, ASL images are typically acquired with 4–8 mm thick slices and 3–4 mm in-plane resolution. However, in this paper we demonstrate that high-resolution continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL) perfusion images can be acquired in a clinically relevant scan time using current MRI technology. CASL was implemented with a separate neck coil for labeling the arterial blood on a 4.7T MRI using standard axial 2D GE-EPI. Typical-resolution to high-resolution (voxels of 95, 60, 45, 27, or 7 mm 3 ) images were compared for qualitative and quantitative cerebral blood flow analysis (CBF) in nine healthy volunteers (ages: 24–32 years). The highest resolution (1.5x1.5x3 = 7 mm 3 ) CASL implementation yielded perfusion images with improved cortex depiction and increased cortical CBF measurements (53 ± 8 ml/100g/min), consistent with reduced partial volume averaging. The 7 mm 3 voxel images were acquired with 6 cm brain coverage in a clinically relevant scan of 6 minutes. Improved spatial resolution facilitates CBF measurement with reduced partial volume averaging and may be valuable for the detection of perfusion deficits in small lesions and perfusion measurement in small brain regions.