Person:

Alsop, David

Purpose: To demonstrate an arterial spin-labeling (ASL) magnetic resonance (MR) angiographic technique that covers the entire cerebral vasculature and yields transparent-background, time-resolved hemodynamic, and vessel-specific information similar to that obtained with x-ray digital subtraction angiography (DSA) without the use of exogenous contrast agents.

Materials and Methods: Prior institutional review board approval and written informed consent were obtained for this HIPAA-compliant study in which 12 healthy volunteers (five women, seven men; age range, 21—62 years; average age, 28 years) underwent imaging. An ASL technique in which variable labeling durations are used to acquire hemodynamic inflow information and a vessel-selective pulsed-continuous ASL technique were tested. Region-of-interest signal intensities in various vessel segments were averaged across subjects and used to quantitatively compare images. For comparison, a standard time of flight (TOF) acquisition was performed in the circle of Willis.

Results: Inflow temporal resolution of 200 msec was demonstrated, revealing arterial transit times of 750, 950, and 1100 msec to consecutive segments of the middle cerebral artery from distal to the circle of Willis to deep regions of the midbrain. Selective labeling resulted in an average of eightfold suppression of contralateral vessels relative to the labeled vessel. Signal-to-noise ratios and contrast-to-noise ratios on maximum intensity projection images obtained with 88-second volumetric acquisitions (60 ± 15 [standard deviation] and 57 ± 15, respectively) and 11-second single-projection acquisitions (19 ± 5 and 17 ± 5, respectively) were comparable with standard TOF acquisitions, in which a 2.7-fold longer imaging duration for a 2.6-fold lower pixel area was used. Normal variations of the vasculature were identified with ASL angiography.

Conclusion: ASL angiography can be used to acquire hemodynamic vessel-specific information similar to that obtained with x-ray DSA.

Creating images of the transit delay from the labeling location to image tissue can aid the optimization and quantification of arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion measurements and may provide diagnostic information independent of perfusion. Unfortunately, measuring transit delay requires acquiring a series of images with different labeling timing that adds to the time cost and increases the noise of the ASL study. Here we implement and evaluate a proposed Hadamard encoding of labeling that speeds the imaging and improves the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) efficiency. Volumetric images in human volunteers confirmed the theoretical advantages of Hadamard encoding over sequential acquisition of images with multiple labeling timing. Perfusion images calculated from Hadamard encoded acquisition had reduced SNR relative to a dedicated perfusion acquisition with either assumed or separately measured transit delays, however.