A Comparison Study of Imaging Absolute CBF Change in Rat Brain with SR-T1app Method and CASL Technique

Xiao Wang¹, Xiao-Hong Zhu¹, Yi Zhang¹, Wei Chen¹

In the present study, the absolute CBF increase induced by transient mild hypercapnia in the rat brain was directly compared using the SR-T1app method and the CASL technique. The results revealed good agreement in both magnitude and spatial patterns of CBF change measured by these two techniques. In addition, both techniques showed great sensitivity to the variation of hypercapnia level and the associated CBF change. Our results also show that the SR-T1app method could also provide absolute CBF value once the intrinsic R1 (R1int) was determined. Therefore, the SR-T1app method should provide a noninvasive, simple and efficient way to determine both absolute CBF and CBF change induced by physiological and pathological perturbations in the rat brain.