Fast Blood T1 Measurement in Children & Adults

Ruth L. O'Gorman¹, Cornelia Hagmann¹, Hadwig Speckbacher¹, Ajit Shankaranarayanan², Ernst Martin¹

An accurate estimate of the T1 of blood is necessary for reliable quantification of perfusion with arterial spin labelling methods. Knowledge of the blood T1 is particularly important for ASL studies in young children, where the decreased hematocrit and increased T1 relative to typical adult values may lead to an overestimate of the perfusion. Here we evaluate a fast T1 mapping protocol based on the variable flip angle, spoiled gradient echo method. This protocol was tested in a group of 8 adults and 10 children (including four neonates) and the age dependence of the blood T1 values was assessed.