Joshua S. Greer1,2, Keith Hulsey2, Robert E. Lenkinski2,3, and Ananth J. Madhuranthakam2,3
1Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States, 2Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States, 3Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
Synopsis
Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a rapidly growing area of
interest, primarily because of its ability to provide quantitative perfusion
maps non-invasively. But, for the technique to be adopted for clinical use,
these quantitative measurements need to be accurate and robust, which will
require a quality controlled perfusion phantom to ensure consistency for
different magnet strengths and manufacturers. In this study, we demonstrate a
simple perfusion flow phantom that can be used to test the precision and
repeatability of ASL perfusion measurements.Introduction
Arterial spin labeling is a rapidly growing area of interest
with clinical potential, primarily because it can provide quantitative
perfusion maps non-invasively. ASL measured quantitative perfusion provides a
direct measurement of tumor vasculature and has been shown to have clinical
utility in measuring therapy response in various indications including
glioblastoma multiformae (GBM) [1] and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) [2]. However,
in order to have reliable measurements of quantitative perfusion, independent
of the field strength or MR scanner manufacturer, it is imperative to establish
a quality controlled perfusion phantom.
In this study, we demonstrate a simple and reliable
perfusion phantom that can be used to test the precision and repeatability of
quantitative perfusion measurements using pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL).
Methods
Phantom Design:
The perfusion phantom was designed similar to a previously described pseudo-diffusion phantom [3,4] using sponges with different densities embedded within
poly-vinyl carbon (PVC) pipes submerged in a water bath (fig. 1a). The three
tubes containing the sponges were split from a common plastic tubing. The entire
set-up was submerged in a water bath to minimize B
0 inhomogeneities. A pump
outside the MR scanner room circulated water through the tubing. The water was
forced through the sponges using the flow pump at different rates to create
different perfusion effects in the sponges, which were measured with 2D pCASL
using a single shot turbo spin echo (SShTSE) [5]. Subsequently, quantitative perfusion values were calculated using
the standard ASL model (fig. 5) [6]. The variables in this equation are: label
duration ($$$\tau$$$); post-label delay ($$$\omega$$$); blood-tissue partition coefficient (λ=0.9);
transit delay from the labeling plane to the tissue (δt); inversion efficiency
(α = 0.9) for pCASL without background suppression. ΔM is the measured perfusion difference image
between label and control and M
0 is the proton density
image. Axial perfusion-weighted images were acquired through
the center of the sponges using a SShTSE after
6000 ms of labeling (see fig. 1). The pump flow
rate was varied from 0 to 300 mL/min to vary perfusion in the sponges. A
proton-density image was acquired using same acquisition parameters without any preparation pulses for perfusion quantification.
Perfusion in each
sponge was estimated by measuring the flow into each sponge using phase
contrast to estimate flow in mL/min, and dividing this flow by the sponge
volume to get perfusion in mL/mL/min. Quantitative perfusion values measured by
pCASL were correlated against quantitative perfusion values estimated by phase
contrast to evaluate the precision of pCASL measured perfusion. Additionally,
the pCASL measurements were repeated with same pump flow rates on two different
days (about a week apart) to evaluate the repeatability of pCASL measured quantitative
perfusion.
Results
Figure 1 shows a coronal T2W image of the 3 sponges
and the pCASL labeling plane shown in red (a). To show the effects of labeling
duration, labeling was applied for 2000ms (fig. 1b) and 6000ms (fig. 1c),
showing the flow of labeled water further with longer labeling duration (fig.
1c).
Figure 2 shows the correlation between the pump flow
rate and the measured quantitative perfusion using 2D pCASL, showing good
correlation for each sponge. Sponge 3 has the highest density and serves as a
control measurement providing close to zero perfusion.
Figure 3 shows the correlation between the measured
quantitative perfusion using 2D pCASL and the estimated perfusion using phase contrast
and the sponge volume, showing an excellent correlation. Different perfusion values were achieved
using different pump flow rates.
Figure 4 shows excellent repeatability of 2D pCASL
measurements on two different days, acquired one week apart (R
2=0.93).
Discussion
Accurate and reliable
measurements of quantitative perfusion using pCASL is of utmost importance in establishing
ASL as a quantitative measurement for therapy response in clinical trials. We
demonstrated a simple but reliable perfusion phantom that provides precise and
reliable measurements of quantitiative perfusion using pCASL. This phantom can
be used as a quality control tool to measure ASL perfusion independent of the
field strength or the manufacturer of the MR scanner.
Acknowledgements
No acknowledgement found.References
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