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Purpose: To optimize pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (PCASL) parameters to maximize SNR efficiency for RF power constrained whole brain perfusion imaging at 7 T.
Methods: We used Bloch simulations of pulsatile laminar flow to optimize the PCASL parameters for maximum SNR efficiency, balancing labeling efficiency and total RF power. The optimization included adjusting the inter-RF pulse spacing (TR), mean B (B ), slice-selective gradient amplitude (G), and mean gradient amplitude (G). In vivo data were acquired from six volunteers at 7 T to validate the optimized parameters. Dynamic B-shimming and flip angle adjustments were used to avoid needing to make the PCASL parameters robust to B/B variations.
Results: The optimized PCASL parameters achieved a significant (3.3×) reduction in RF power while maintaining high labeling efficiency. This allowed for longer label durations and minimized deadtime, resulting in a 118% improvement in SNR efficiency in vivo compared to a previously proposed protocol. Additionally, the static tissue response was improved, reducing the required distance between labeling plane and imaging volume.
Conclusion: These optimized PCASL parameters provide a robust and efficient approach for whole brain perfusion imaging at 7 T, with significant improvements in SNR efficiency and reduced specific absorption rate burden.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mrm.30527 | DOI Listing |
NeuroSci
August 2025
Centre for Medical Sciences-CISMed, University of Trento, Via S. Maria Maddalena 1, 38122 Trento, Italy.
Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) remains a significant contributor to global mortality and long-term neurological disability. Accurate prognostic biomarkers are crucial for enhancing prognostic accuracy and guiding personalized clinical management.
Objective: This review assesses the prognostic value of arterial spin labeling (ASL), a non-invasive MRI technique, in adult and pediatric TBI, with a focus on quantitative cerebral blood flow (CBF) and arterial transit time (ATT) measures.
NMR Biomed
September 2025
Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
The measurement of cerebral oxygen metabolism is important to understand and treat many disorders. Constrained quantitative BOLD (qBOLD) MRI is a calibration-free method for 3D voxel-wise whole-brain mapping of brain oxygen metabolism. This study aimed to evaluate the agreement between constrained qBOLD and global oximetry methods both at baseline and in response to a caffeine stimulus.
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July 2025
Department of Medical Imaging, Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China.
Purpose: This study investigated the differences in global cerebral hemodynamics between the tremor-dominant (TD) and akinetic-rigid-dominant (ARD) subtypes of Parkinson's disease (PD) using multi-delay pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (MD-pCASL) imaging and evaluated the clinical value of MD-pCASL for identifying PD subtypes.
Methods: Twenty-five healthy controls (HC) and fifty-one patients with PD were enrolled: 26 in the TD group and 25 in the ARD group. Voxel-based analysis was performed to compare cerebral blood flow (CBF), arterial transit time (ATT), and cerebral blood volume (CBV) among the ARD, TD, and HC groups.
Magn Reson Med
October 2025
Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, FMRIB Division, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Purpose: To improve the robustness of noninvasive vessel-selective perfusion imaging and angiography using vessel-encoded arterial spin labeling (VEASL) when applied to complex vascular geometries, such as above the circle of Willis (CoW) in the brain.
Methods: Our proposed improved optimized encoding scheme (IOES) better accounts for vascular geometry and the VEASL encoding process, leading to more SNR-efficient encodings than previous approaches. Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (PCASL) parameters were optimized for a thinner labeling region, allowing tortuous vessels to be more accurately treated as single points within the labeling plane.
Brain Res Bull
September 2025
Neuromuscular Research Center, Department of Neurology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address:
Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by decline in brain hypoperfusion, particularly in the precuneus, which is critical for higher cognitive function. Arterial spin labeling (ASL) studies have demonstrated hypoperfusion patterns; however, these findings have not been systematically analyzed. Therefore, there is a need to synthesize evidence to validate the diagnostic utility of ASL.
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