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Updated: Apr 26, 2026
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Quantification of Pulmonary Perfusion using Calibrated Arterial Spin Labeling
Published on: May 30, 2011
Inter-vendor reproducibility of pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling at 3 Tesla
Henri J M M Mutsaerts1, Rebecca M E Steketee2, Dennis F R Heijtel1
1Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Purpose:
Prior to the implementation of arterial spin labeling (ASL) in clinical multi-center studies, it is important to establish its status quo inter-vendor reproducibility. This study evaluates and compares the intra- and inter-vendor reproducibility of pseudo-continuous ASL (pCASL) as clinically implemented by GE and Philips.
Material And Methods:
22 healthy volunteers were scanned twice on both a 3T GE and a 3T Philips scanner. The main difference in implementation between the vendors was the readout module: spiral 3D fast spin echo vs. 2D gradient-echo echo-planar imaging respectively. Mean and variation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) were compared for the total gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM), and on a voxel-level.
Results:
Whereas the mean GM CBF of both vendors was almost equal (p = 1.0), the mean WM CBF was significantly different (p<0.01). The inter-vendor GM variation did not differ from the intra-vendor GM variation (p = 0.3 and p = 0.5 for GE and Philips respectively). Spatial inter-vendor CBF and variation differences were observed in several GM regions and in the WM.
Conclusion:
These results show that total GM CBF-values can be exchanged between vendors. For the inter-vendor comparison of GM regions or WM, these results encourage further standardization of ASL implementation among vendors.
