Cerebral blood flow (CBF) may be
quantified using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL),
but pCASL suffers from image distortion due to its long echo planar imaging
(EPI) readout. Phase labeling for additional coordinate encoding (PLACE) is
employed here to remove distortion. EPI images and pCASL subtraction images
show improved spatial accuracy when compared to a T1-weighted, anatomical
reference image. This results in
improved accuracy in CBF quantification, which could potentially improve the assessment
of disease-specific patterns indicated by regional CBF abnormalities.
