Thomas Christen1,2, Nicolas Joudiou1,2, Raphael Serduc1,2, Gregoire Malandain3, Nicolas Pannetier1,2, Jean-Claude Vial1,2, Christoph Segebarth1,2, Chantal Rmy1,2, Emmanuel L. Barbier1,2
1Inserm, U836, Grenoble, F-38043, France; 2Universit Joseph Fourier, Grenoble Institut des Neurosciences, UMR-S836, Grenoble, France; 3Asclepios team, INRIA, Sophia-Antipolis, France
The aim of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of MR estimates of Blood volume fraction (BVf). Brain cortical microvascular networks were digitized using a two-photon microscope. BVf was then obtained in two ways. First, BVf was quantified from the microscopic data using morphologic tools. Second, a steady-state MR protocol designed for measuring BVf was performed in silico. Comparison of BVf estimates obtained with the two techniques indicates that they are well correlated. However results show a systematic error (20% on average) on absolute quantification, possibly induced by approximations in modelling the microvascular network in MR.