C. Schwarzbauer et W. Heinke, BASE IMAGING - A NEW SPIN-LABELING TECHNIQUE FOR MEASURING ABSOLUTE PERFUSION CHANGES, Magnetic resonance in medicine, 39(5), 1998, pp. 717-722
A new technique for magnetic resonance imaging of absolute perfusion c
hanges that uses magnetically labeled tissue water proton spins as a f
reely diffusible tracer is described. It consists of unprepared basis
(BA) images that serve as a reference and selective (SE) inversion pre
pared images that are sensitive to perfusion changes. In the present s
tudy, the BASE technique was applied to functional neuroimaging. BA an
d SE images were alternatingly and repeatedly acquired during periods
of visual stimulation and control, Visual stimulation was achieved wit
h an alternating black/white checkerboard operating at a frequency of
8 Hz. Maps of the absolute cerebral blood flow changes (Delta CBF) wer
e calculated from the image intensities of the corresponding BA and SE
images, The individual mean values of Delta CBF measured in five heal
thy volunteers ranged from 69 +/- 18 to 99 +/- 26 ml/min/100 g. Since
the BASE technique does not require nonselective spin inversion, it ca
n be used with small transmit/receive head coils (e.g., surface coils)
. In addition, the BASE technique is robust against a mismatch of the
inversion and detection slice profiles.