title: Optimization of phase-contrast MRI for the quantification of whole-brain cerebral blood flow.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Whole-brain cerebral blood flow (CBF) measured by phase-contrast MRI (PC-MRI) provides an important index for brain function. This work aimed to optimize the PC-MRI imaging protocol for accurate CBF measurements.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two studies were performed on a 3 Tesla system. In Study 1 (N = 12), we optimized in-plane resolution of PC-MRI acquisition for CBF quantification by considering accuracy, precision, and scan duration. In Study 2 (N = 7), we assessed the detrimental effect of nonperpendicular imaging slice orientation on CBF quantification. Both One-way analysis of variance with repeated measurement and Friedman test were used to examine the effects of resolution and angulation on CBF quantification. Additionally, we evaluated the inter-rater reliability in PC-MRI data processing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results showed that CBF measurement with 0.7 mm resolution could be overestimated by up to 13.3% when compared with 0.4 mm resolution. Moreover, CBF could also be overestimated by up to 18.8% when the slice orientation is deviated by 30° from the ideal angulation. However, within 10° of the ideal slice orientation, estimated CBF was not significantly different from each other (P = 0.23 and 0.45 for internal carotid artery and vertebral artery, respectively). Inter-rater difference was <3%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For fast and accurate quantification of whole-brain CBF with PC-MRI, we recommend the use of an imaging resolution of 0.5 mm and a slice orientation that is less than 10° from vessel's axial plane.
authors: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.|Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors: Shin-Lei
authors: SL
authors: Peng
authors: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.|Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.|Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors: Pan
authors: P
authors: Su
authors: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors: Fu-Nien
authors: FN
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, USA.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Cao
authors: Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors: Rong
authors: R
authors: Zhang
authors: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.|Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.|Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors: Hanzhang
authors: H
authors: Lu
authors: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.|Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors: Peiying
authors: P
authors: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
keywords: blood flow quantification; cerebral blood flow; flow velocity; partial voluming effect; phase-contrast MRI