Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of human brain perfusion at 1.5 T using steady-state inversion of arterial water.

We report our experience using a noninvasive magnetic resonance technique for quantitative imaging of human brain perfusion at 1.5 T. This technique uses magnetically inverted arterial water as a freely diffusible blood flow tracer. A perfusion image is calculated from magnetic resonance images acquired with and without arterial blood inversion and from an image of the apparent spin-lattice relaxation time. Single-slice perfusion maps were obtained from nine volunteers with approximately 1 x 2 x 5-mm resolution in an acquisition time of 15 min. Analysis yielded average perfusion rates of 93 +/- 16 ml.100 g-1.min-1 for gray matter, 38 +/- 10 ml.100 g-1.min-1 for white matter, and 52 +/- 8 ml.100 g-1.min-1 for whole brain. Significant changes in perfusion were observed during hyperventilation and breath holding. This technique may be used for quantitative measurement of perfusion in human brain without the risks and expense of methods which use exogenous tracers.