BLIND DETERMINATION OF THE ARTERIAL INPUT AND TISSUE RESIDUEFUNCTIONS IN PERFUSION MRI

摘要

The invention provides, in a method of perfusion magnetic resonance imaging of
a region of interest in a vascularized animal subject, said method comprising
administering a contrast agent bolus into the vascular system of said subject;
determining the magnetic resonance signal strength si(t) for voxels (i) of
said region of interest at a series of time values (t) over period from before
contrast agent arrival in said region of interest to at least the end of the
first pass of said contrast agent through said region of interest; from the
determined values si(t) for said signal strength and an arterial input
function v(t), determining values for the tissue residue function ri(t)for
each said voxel; and optionally generating an image of said region of interest
from the determined values of ri(t); the improvement comprising generating
from si(t) a voxel specific arterial function vi(t)and using said voxel
specific arterial function to determine the values of the tissue residue
function ri(t).