NONINVASIVE QUANTIFICATION OF RCBF USING POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY

This study proposes a new method for the pixel-by-pixel quantification of regional CBF (rCBF) with positron emission tomography and (H2O)-O- 15 by using a reference tissue region. No arterial blood is required. Simulation studies revealed that the calculation of rCBF was fairly st able provided that the frame time was relatively short compared with t otal scan time. In practice, calculated CBF images correlated signific antly with those obtained with the dynamic/integral method. Because th e method accurately detects changes in CBF, it is particularly suitabl e for brain activation studies.