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Updated: Dec 18, 2025
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Quantification of Pulmonary Perfusion using Calibrated Arterial Spin Labeling
Published on: May 30, 2011
ExploreASL: An image processing pipeline for multi-center ASL perfusion MRI studies.
Henk J M M Mutsaerts1, Jan Petr2, Paul Groot3
1Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Location VUmc, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Location Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Kate Gleason College of Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, USA; Ghent Institute for Functional and Metabolic Imaging (GIfMI), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
ExploreASL software standardizes arterial spin labeling (ASL) image processing for reproducible multi-center clinical studies. This tool enhances data analysis and quality control, advancing ASL
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Medical Image Analysis
- Quantitative MRI
Background:
- Arterial spin labeling (ASL) requires improved standardization for clinical use.
- Reproducibility challenges exist in multi-center ASL data acquisition and quantification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce ExploreASL, a software package for standardized and reproducible ASL image processing.
- To facilitate robust analysis of multi-center ASL datasets across different scanners and sites.
Main Methods:
- Development of ExploreASL, a MATLAB-based toolbox utilizing Statistical Parameter Mapping (SPM).
- Implementation of four modules: Import, Structural, ASL, and Population for data curation, processing, and statistical analysis.
- Testing on >10,000 ASL scans across diverse clinical populations and processing environments.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated reproducibility of gray matter cerebral blood flow quantification across different centers, operating systems, and MATLAB versions.
- Successful application of ExploreASL in analyzing data from HIV-infected children, healthy adults, and elderly individuals at risk for neurodegenerative disease.
- Validation of standardized processing and quality control for pooled cohort analysis.
Conclusions:
- ExploreASL provides a standardized workflow for ASL image processing and quality control.
- The software enables increased statistical power by allowing cohort pooling, facilitating the discovery of perfusion differences.
- ExploreASL promotes wider adoption of ASL in clinical research and practice.
