Full Paper
Slab-selective, BOLD-corrected VASO at 7 Tesla provides measures of cerebral blood volume reactivity with high signal-to-noise ratio
Laurentius Huber,
Dimo Ivanov,
Steffen N. Krieger,
Markus N. Streicher,
Toralf Mildner,
Benedikt A. Poser,
Harald E. Möller,
Robert Turner,
Corresponding Author
Laurentius Huber
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Correspondence to: Laurentius Huber, M.Sc., Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Unit, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1 A, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorDimo Ivanov
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorSteffen N. Krieger
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorMarkus N. Streicher
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorToralf Mildner
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorBenedikt A. Poser
Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Donders Institute, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorHarald E. Möller
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorRobert Turner
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorLaurentius Huber,
Dimo Ivanov,
Steffen N. Krieger,
Markus N. Streicher,
Toralf Mildner,
Benedikt A. Poser,
Harald E. Möller,
Robert Turner,
Corresponding Author
Laurentius Huber
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Correspondence to: Laurentius Huber, M.Sc., Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Unit, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstrasse 1 A, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]Search for more papers by this authorDimo Ivanov
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorSteffen N. Krieger
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Monash Biomedical Imaging, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorMarkus N. Streicher
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorToralf Mildner
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorBenedikt A. Poser
Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Donders Institute, Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Search for more papers by this authorHarald E. Möller
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorRobert Turner
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Purpose
MRI methods sensitive to functional changes in cerebral blood volume (CBV) may map neural activity with better spatial specificity than standard functional MRI (fMRI) methods based on blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) effect. The purpose of this study was to develop and investigate a vascular space occupancy (VASO) method with high sensitivity to CBV changes for use in human brain at 7 Tesla (T).
Methods
To apply 7T VASO, several high-field-specific obstacles must be overcome, e.g., low contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) due to convergence of blood and tissue T1, increased functional BOLD signal change contamination, and radiofrequency field inhomogeneities. In the present method, CNR was increased by keeping stationary tissue magnetization in a steady-state different from flowing blood, using slice-selective saturation pulses. Interleaved acquisition of BOLD and VASO signals allowed correction for BOLD contamination.
Results
During visual stimulation, a relative CBV change of 28% ± 5% was measured, confined to gray matter in the occipital lobe with high sensitivity.
Conclusion
By carefully considering all the challenges of high-field VASO and filling behavior of the relevant vasculature, the proposed method can detect and quantify CBV changes with high CNR in human brain at 7T. Magn Reson Med 72:137–148, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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