Fast CBF Estimation in Multi-Phase Pseudo-Continuous Arterial Spin Labeling (MP-PCASL) Using Signal Demodulation

Youngkyoo Jung¹, Thomas T. Liu¹

The multi-phase pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (MP-PCASL) method offers more robust cerebral blood flow (CBF) quantification than the conventional PCASL method and higher SNR than Pulsed ASL. However, the MP-PCASL method requires a per-voxel fit to the nonlinear signal equation. This time required for this nonlinear fitting procedure (about 5 minutes) can be problematic for applications such as optimized PCASL for functional MRI studies. Here we propose a signal demodulation processing method for MP-PCASL that utilizes the dominant sinusoidal component at the multi-phase frequency. We show the proposed demodulation method can provide reliable CBF estimates while providing faster estimation time.