title: Continuous artery-selective spin labeling (CASSL).
abstract: A new technique for selective spin labeling of individual arteries is presented. It is based on continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL) with an amplitude-modulated control experiment. Precessionary motion of the labeling gradient about the axis of the artery, combined with an appropriate frequency modulation of the labeling RF pulse, restricts the adiabatic inversion to the desired artery. In phantom studies, it was found that the level of selectivity could be controlled by the sequence parameters, and that the achievable labeling efficiency was at a level of approximately 80% compared to a regular, nonselective CASL experiment. In a volunteer study we acquired high-quality images of the perfusion territories of the internal carotid artery (ICA), the basilar artery (BA), the middle cerebral artery (MCA), and both anterior cerebral arteries (ACAs). The results show the method's flexibility for different geometries and flow velocities. Potential applications include perfusion territory imaging of smaller cerebral arteries, and selective angiography techniques.
authors.affiliation: Section of Neuroradiology, Christian Albrechts Universität, Kiel, Germany. wernerr@nch.uni-kiel.de
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Norris
authors.forename: Karsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alfke
authors.forename: H Maximilian
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Mehdorn
authors.forename: Olav
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Jansen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015901:Angiography, Digital Subtraction; D001488:Basilar Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D013113:Spin Labels
chemical_list: D013113:Spin Labels