A STEADY PULSED IMAGING AND LABELING SCHEME FOR NON-INVASIVE PERFUSION

摘要

The present invention is directed to a method of steady imaging and labeling (SPIL) to obtain high-resolution multi-slice perfusion images of brain using standard preclinical MRI equipment. The SPIL scheme repeats a pulsed arterial spin labeling (PASL) module together with a short mixing time to extend the temporal duration of the generated PASL bolus to the total experimental time. Multi-slice image acquisition is interleaved with the labeling modules. The mixing time is also used for magnetization recovery following image acquisition. SPIL yields multi-slice perfusion images faster than traditional ASL methods. The perfusion kinetic curve can be measured by MPIL, i. e. acquiring single-slice ASL signal before reaching steady-state in the SPIL sequence. The new SPIL scheme provides for robust measurement of CBF with multi-slice imaging capability.