Abstract #2768
Vascular space occupancy weighted imaging with control of inflow effect and higher signal-to-noise ratio
Buxton R, Wu W, Wong E, Wegener S
University of California, San Diego
This study proposes an alternative vascular space occupancy (VASO) weighted imaging by optimizing the difference of longitudinal magnetization between blood and non-blood tissues, instead of eliminating blood signal as used in current VASO technique. The presented method provides compatible sensitivity and specificity in the detection of neuronal activation with 1.7-fold higher SNR and less sensitivity to inversion efficiency. With a voxel size of 3.43.45.0 mm3, VASO signal change is 0.6%, which approximately corresponds to a 44 % change in cerebral blood volume. Global saturation immediately after image acquisition is necessary to remove inflow effect.
