In qBOLD, the accuracy of local deoxygenated blood volume (DBV) and hemoglobin oxygen saturation (Yv) maps is impaired because of coupling of these two parameters in the signal model. Here, we introduce an interleaved qBOLD method that combines extravascular R2’ and intravascular R2 mapping in a single pulse sequence. Prior knowledge for DBV and Yv is obtained from the velocity-selective-spin-labeling module in the sequence, subsequently used as priors for qBOLD processing. Data obtained in eight subjects demonstrates significantly improved performance yielding plausible values averaging 60.1±3.3% for Yv and 3.1±0.5% and 2.0±0.4% for DBV in gray and white matter, respectively.
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