MRI Estimation of Global Brain Oxygen Consumption Rate

Varsha Jain¹, Michael Langham¹, Felix Wehrli¹

The human brain is extremely sensitive and vulnerable to even small alterations in oxygen supply, making a measure for assessing global cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO2) very important. We propose a method for estimating CMRO2 by simultaneous quantification of oxygen saturation by MR oximetry and cerebral blood flow by phase-contrast MRI in the major vessels draining (superior sagittal sinus) and feeding the brain (internal carotid and vertebral arteries), respectively. Our results demonstrate that the proposed technique is robust and reproducible, yielding temporally stable measurements at a temporal resolution 30 seconds.