Maximizing Statistical Power of ASL MRI in Detecting Regional CBF Differences

Sina Aslan¹, Hanzhang Lu¹

We conducted numerical simulations and experimental measurements to see how sensitive is ASL MRI in detecting regional activity difference between patients and controls and what is the best strategy to detect such a difference. We used a model condition in which we simulated a patient group by having the subject view a flashing checkerboard and compared their CBF to that of a control group of subjects viewing a fixation. Our results suggest that, when it comes to detect regional CBF differences between two subject groups, rCBF is a more sensitive marker.