Abstract #0585

Optimized Processing of Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping-Based Gadolinium Perfusion MRI: Correction of Bulk Susceptibility Effects and Comparison of Arterial Input Function Selection from &[Delta]R2* and QSM Data

David Bonekamp¹, Xu Li¹,², Richard Leigh³, Peter C.M. van Zijl¹,², Peter B. Barker¹,²

¹The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; ²FM Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States; ³Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States

Recently, we developed the feasibility of dynamic Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) for mapping of cerebral blood flow (CBF). The induced susceptibility effects are independent of intra- or extra-vascular contrast location, an advantage over existing methods. We present improvements of the method and compare the use of arterial input functions (AIF) derived from the QSM (&[Delta]&[chi]) and &[Delta]R₂^* data. We find good quantitative agreement between CBF perfusion images obtained using &[Delta]R₂^*, and &[Delta]&[chi] with both AIF approaches. Quantification of CBV and CBF is improved in the gray matter compared to our prior reports.