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A Short Introduction to Arterial Spin Labeling and its Application to Flow Territory Mapping

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Abstract

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is an emerging method for the assessment of perfusion in various diseases of the brain. In ASL, the magnetization of arterial blood water spins is manipulated in a complete non-invasive way before flowing into the tissue of interest. This allows absolute quantification of cerebral blood flow, thereby, presenting an alternative to contrast-enhanced methods based on computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. Furthermore, its potential application for flow territory mapping can provide additional information of the individual configuration of intracerebral blood flow. This article gives a brief overview of the basic ASL methodology and its approaches to image individual perfusion territories. Additionally, the utilization of ASL in a variety of cerebrovascular diseases is presented to provide examples of potential applications of (territorial) ASL in clinical routine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinic for Radiology and Neuroradiology, UKSH Campus Kiel, 24105, Kiel, Arnold-Heller-Straße 3, Germany

    T. Lindner & O. Jansen

  2. Philips GmbH Innovative Technologies, Research Laboratories, Hamburg, Germany

    M. Helle

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  1. T. Lindner
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  2. M. Helle
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  3. O. Jansen
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Correspondence to T. Lindner.

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Lindner, T., Helle, M. & Jansen, O. A Short Introduction to Arterial Spin Labeling and its Application to Flow Territory Mapping. Clin Neuroradiol 25 (Suppl 2), 211–218 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00062-015-0450-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00062-015-0450-7

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