Simulation model for contrast agent dynamics in brain perfusion scans.

Standardization efforts are currently under way to reduce the heterogeneity of quantitative brain perfusion methods. A brain perfusion simulation model is proposed to generate test data for an unbiased comparison of these methods. This model provides realistic simulated patient data and is independent of and different from any computational method. The flow of contrast agent solute and blood through cerebral vasculature with disease-specific configurations is simulated. Blood and contrast agent dynamics are modeled as a combination of convection and diffusion in tubular networks. A combination of a cerebral arterial model and a microvascular model provides arterial-input and time-concentration curves for a wide range of flow and perfusion statuses. The model is configured to represent an embolic stroke in one middle cerebral artery territory and provides physiologically plausible vascular dispersion operators for major arteries and tissue contrast agent retention functions. These curves are fit to simpler template curves to allow the use of the simulation results in multiple validation studies. A gamma-variate function with fit parameters is proposed as the vascular dispersion operator, and a combination of a boxcar and exponential decay function is proposed as the retention function. Such physiologically plausible operators should be used to create test data that better assess the strengths and the weaknesses of various analysis methods. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.