Maolin Qiu1, Jinghua Wang1, Jagriti Arora1, Yuenan Wang1, Heyonjin Kim1, Nallakkandi Rajeevan1, Beata Planeta-Wilson1, David Weinzimmer1, Richard E. Carson1,2, Robert Todd Constable1,2
1Diagnostic Radiology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA; 2Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
Arterial transit times (ATT) were estimated using both the perfusion-induced changes in image intensity measured by pulse arterial spin labeling (ASL) and the absolute cerebral blood flow (CBF) quantified by positron emission tomography (PET) on the same group of normal healthy subjects. This work demonstrates the marked dependence of arterial transit times upon the location of the imaging and labeling slabs and quantifies the effect of ATT on measurement of CBF. The results of this study should aid in the interpretation of ASL-based CBF studies, while also providing spatially specific data on ATT values that may aid in optimizing the imaging parameters in ASL acquisitions.