MRI Method for Quantification of Cerebral Perfusion

Timothy Carroll (Inventor)

Research output: Patent

Abstract

Quantification of Cerebral Perfusion with MRI NU 2006-158 Inventors Timothy Carroll* Jessy Moinnes Wanyong Shin Abstract Northwestern researchers have developed a novel approach to quantify cerebral blood flow (CBF) using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The ability to measure cerebral perfusion would benefit the diagnosis and evaluation of treatment response to a number of diseases. In fact, collaborators have used this quantitative methodology in variety of diseases including ischemic stroke, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and a variety of neurovascular diseases (including arteriovenous malformation, moyamoya, aneurysms, intracranial stenosis, Sturge-Weber syndrome). Their clinical findings have been published. The widely used approach for measuring CBF with MRI is to inject a gadolinium-based contrast agent and to calculate parametric images of CBF, cerebral blood volume (CBV) and Mean transit time (MTT). Quantification of CBF and CBV is very difficult due to signal non-linearities in the MRI signal. Our "bookend technique" approach combines MRI images with two different contrast weightings to mitigate the effect of signal non-linearities. In order to accurately calibrate perfusion values, we have derived a mathematical model that accounts for intra-to-extra-vascular water exchange, a well-known confounding effect in these calculations. The result is an MRI pulse sequence that is "self-calibrating, " named the Self-CALibrating Epi Perfusion Weighted Imaging (SCALE-PWI) pulse sequence. Applications o Quantify Cerebral Perfusion Advantages o No MRI signal limits due to non-linearities o Compatible with different platforms (e.g. Siemens, GE, Philips) o Highly repeatable o High diagnostic accuracy in detecting critical ischemia o Automatically reconstructed images o No need for specially trained personnel IP Status Issued US Patent No. 8,099,149
Original languageEnglish
Patent number8099149
StatePublished - May 22 2008

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