Elina Raja Ahmad1, Laura Michelle Parkes2, Graham J. Kemp1
1Magnetic Resonance & Image Analysis Research Centre (MARIARC), School of Clinical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK; 2Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering, School of Cancer and Imaging Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Q2TIPS, a pulsed ASL variant, has technical advantages which have improved perfusion quantification in the brain. We report its first application to skeletal muscle, studying calf perfusion recovery kinetics after exercise and ischaemia. Four datasets were collected with 6 s resolution during recovery from 5 min cuff ischaemia (200 mmHg) in 5 subjects, and after 30s sustained 80% maximal plantar flexion in 4 subjects. Recovery kinetics after ischaemia and exercise were similarly fast (t 61, 72 s, respectively) indicating rapid vascular reactivity. Reproducibility of peak flow and t was good (CV 10-22%).