Reliability of quantitative transverse relaxation time mapping with [Formula: see text]-prepared whole brain pCASL

Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 27;10(1):18299. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-74680-y.

Abstract

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is increasingly applied for cerebral blood flow mapping, but [Formula: see text] relaxation of the ASL signal magnetization is often ignored, although it may be clinically relevant. To investigate the extent, to which quantitative [Formula: see text] values in gray matter (GM) obtained by pseudocontinuous ASL (pCASL) perfusion MRI can be reproduced, are reliable and a potential neuroscientific biomarker, a prospective study was performed with ten healthy volunteers (5F,28 ± 3y) at a 3 T scanner. A [Formula: see text]-prepared pCASL sequence enabled the measurement of quantitative [Formula: see text] and perfusion maps. [Formula: see text] times were modeled per voxel and analyzed within four GM-regions-of-interest (ROI). The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of the quantified ASL-[Formula: see text] varied across brain regions. When averaged across subjects and postlabeling delays (PLDs), the ICCs ranged from reasonable values in parietal regions (ICC = 0.56) to smaller values in frontal regions (ICC = 0.36). Corresponding subject-averaged within-subject coefficients of variation (WSCVs) showed good test-retest measurement precision ([Formula: see text] for all PLDs), but more pronounced inter-subject variance. Reliability and precision of quantified ASL-[Formula: see text] were region-, PLD- and subject-specific, showing fair to robust results in occipital, parietal and temporal ROIs. The results give rise to consider the method for future cerebral studies, where variable perfusion or altered [Formula: see text] times are suspected.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging*
  • Cerebrovascular Circulation*
  • Female
  • Gray Matter / diagnostic imaging
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods*
  • Male
  • Neuroimaging / methods*
  • Spin Labels*
  • White Matter / diagnostic imaging

Substances

  • Spin Labels