Cerebral Blood Flow Measurement Using fMRI and PET: A Cross-Validation Study. (20th August 2008)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Jean J.; Wieckowska, Marguerite; Meyer, Ernst; Pike, G. Bruce
• Other Names: Zhang Yantian Academic Editor.
• Is Part Of: International journal of biomedical imaging. Volume 2008(2008)
• Publication Date: 2008-08-20
• Subjects: Diagnostic imaging -- Periodicals; Imaging systems in medicine -- Periodicals; Imagerie pour le diagnostic; Imagerie médicale; Diagnostic imaging; Imaging systems in medicine; Diagnostic Imaging -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; Periodicals; 616.0754
• DOI: 10.1155/2008/516359
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1687-4188

Abstract

Abstract : An important aspect of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is the study of brain hemodynamics, and MR arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion imaging has gained wide acceptance as a robust and noninvasive technique. However, the cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurements obtained with ASL fMRI have not been fully validated, particularly during global CBF modulations. We present a comparison of cerebral blood flow changes (Δ CBF) measured using a flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) ASL perfusion method to those obtained usingH 2 O 15 PET, which is the current gold standard for in vivo imaging of CBF. To study regional and global CBF changes, a group of 10 healthy volunteers were imaged under identical experimental conditions during presentation of 5 levels of visual stimulation and one level of hypercapnia. The CBF changes were compared using 3 types of region-of-interest (ROI) masks. FAIR measurements of CBF changes were found to be slightly lower than those measured with PET (averageΔ CBF of21.5 ± 8.2 % for FAIR versus28.2 ± 12.8 % for PET at maximum stimulation intensity). Nonetheless, there was a strong correlation between measurements of the two modalities. Finally, at -test comparison of the slopes of the linear fits of PET versus ASLΔ CBF for all 3 ROI types indicated no significant difference from unity (P > .05 ).