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Comparison of arterial transit times estimated using arterial spin labeling

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Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To compare arterial transit time estimates from two efficient transit time mapping techniques using arterial spin labeling (ASL)—flow encoded arterial spin tagging (FEAST) and Look-Locker ASL (LL-ASL). The effects of bipolar gradients and label location were investigated.

Materials and methods

Six healthy subjects were scanned with pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) FEAST and pulsed (PASL) and pCASL variants of LL-ASL at different labeling locations with and without bipolar gradients. Application of transit time mapping was demonstrated in a clinical case.

Results

Mean (±SD) macrovascular transit times were 363 ± 39, 676 ± 73 and 908 ± 170 ms for LL-PASL, LL-pCASL with labeling offsets of 60 and 90 mm respectively, showing linear dependence on labeling locations. Mean microvascular transit time for LL-pCASL was 1,463±135 ms, in good agreement with the FEAST estimate of 1,444 ± 128 ms. Data acquired from a patient with stroke demonstrate how transit time and CBF maps provide complementary information for clinical diagnosis.

Conclusion

Both FEAST and LL-ASL provide transit time information in clinically acceptable scan times. Bipolar gradients can be used to tailor transit time estimates for different experimental and clinical situations.

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Abbreviations

ASL:

Arterial spin labeling

CBF:

Cerebral blood flow

rf:

Radio frequency

TI:

Inversion time

LL:

Look-Locker

TR:

Repetition time

FEAST:

Flow encoding arterial spin tagging

TE:

Echo time

PASL:

Pulsed arterial spin labeling

pCASL:

Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling

ROI:

Regions of interest

SD:

Standard deviation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Advanced MRI, Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, 737 N Michigan Ave. 16th Flr., Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Yufen Chen

  2. Center of Functional Neuroimaging, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Yufen Chen & John A. Detre

  3. Department of Neurology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Danny J. J. Wang

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  1. Yufen Chen
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  2. Danny J. J. Wang
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  3. John A. Detre
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Correspondence to Yufen Chen.

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Chen, Y., Wang, D.J.J. & Detre, J.A. Comparison of arterial transit times estimated using arterial spin labeling. Magn Reson Mater Phy 25, 135–144 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-011-0276-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-011-0276-5

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