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Abstract #4066

Accounting for Dispersion in Arterial Spin Labeling Using the Mass Transport Model: Validation Using the Arterial Input Function

Samira Kazan1, Michael Chappell1,2, Mathias Gunther3, Stephen Payne1

1Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; 2Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, University of Oxford, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom; 3Department of Neurology , University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg


Dispersion of labelled blood water is a known issue in the quantification of cerebral blood flow using arterial spin labelling. A mass transport model (MTM) of the dispersion of a bolus of labelled blood within an artery has been recently presented. Here the MTM is validated by examining ASL data containing arterial signal. It is found to fit the data with lower error than alternative models. It also captured the increasing dispersion of the bolus during transit along the arterial tree, as evidenced by estimates of path length and mean flow speed.