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Updated: Jul 15, 2025
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Quantification of Pulmonary Perfusion using Calibrated Arterial Spin Labeling
Published on: May 30, 2011
On the application of pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeled MRI for pulmonary perfusion imaging
Joshua S Greer1, Yiming Wang2, Durga Udayakumar3
1Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA; Department of Pediatrics, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
Purpose:
To evaluate different approaches for the effective assessment of pulmonary perfusion with a pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeled (pCASL) MRI.
Materials And Methods:
Four different approaches were evaluated: 1) Cardiac-triggered inferior vena cava (IVC) labeling; 2) IVC labeling with cardiac-triggered acquisition; 3) Right pulmonary artery (RPA) labeling with cardiac-triggered acquisition; and 4) Cardiac-triggered RPA labeling with background suppression (BGS). Each approach was evaluated in 5 healthy volunteers (n = 20) using coefficient of variation (COV) across averages. Approach 4 was also compared against a flow alternating inversion recovery (FAIR).
Results:
The IVC labeling (Approach 1) achieved perfusion-weighted images of both lungs, although this approach was more sensitive to variations in heart rate. Cardiac-triggered acquisitions using IVC (Approach 2) and RPA (Approach 3) labeling improved signal consistencies, but were incompatible with BGS. The cardiac-triggered RPA labeling with BGS (Approach 4) achieved a COV of 0.34 ± 0.03 (p < 0.05 compared to IVC labeling approaches) and resulted in perfusion value of 434 ± 64 mL/100 g/min, which was comparable to 451 ± 181 mL/100 g/min measured by FAIR (p = 0.82).
Discussion:
Pulmonary perfusion imaging using pCASL-MRI is highly sensitive to cardiac phase, and requires approaches to minimize flow-induced signal variations. Cardiac-triggered RPA labeling with BGS achieves reduced COV and enables robust pulmonary perfusion imaging.
Insights
Cardiac-triggered right pulmonary artery labeling with background suppression effectively assesses pulmonary perfusion using pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeled MRI. This method minimizes signal variations for robust imaging in healthy volunteers.
Area of Science:
- Medical imaging
- Cardiovascular and respiratory systems
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Background:
- Pulmonary perfusion imaging is crucial for assessing lung health.
- Pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeled (pCASL) MRI offers a non-invasive method for perfusion assessment.
- Optimizing pCASL techniques is essential for accurate pulmonary perfusion quantification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate and compare different pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeled (pCASL) MRI approaches for effective pulmonary perfusion assessment.
- To identify the optimal pCASL technique that minimizes signal variations and enhances imaging robustness.
Main Methods:
- Four pCASL labeling and acquisition strategies were assessed in healthy volunteers.
- Methods included cardiac-triggered inferior vena cava (IVC) labeling, IVC labeling with cardiac-triggered acquisition, right pulmonary artery (RPA) labeling with cardiac-triggered acquisition, and cardiac-triggered RPA labeling with background suppression (BGS).
- Image quality was evaluated using coefficient of variation (COV), and the best approach was compared against flow alternating inversion recovery (FAIR).
Main Results:
- Inferior vena cava (IVC) labeling was sensitive to heart rate variations.
- Cardiac-triggered acquisitions improved signal consistency but were incompatible with background suppression.
- Cardiac-triggered RPA labeling with BGS demonstrated significantly reduced COV (0.34 ± 0.03) compared to IVC labeling approaches.
- The perfusion values obtained with cardiac-triggered RPA labeling and BGS were comparable to those measured by FAIR.
Conclusions:
- Pulmonary perfusion imaging with pCASL-MRI is sensitive to cardiac phase, necessitating methods to reduce flow-induced signal variations.
- Cardiac-triggered RPA labeling combined with background suppression provides a robust and effective approach for pulmonary perfusion imaging.
- This optimized pCASL technique yields reliable perfusion measurements with reduced variability.
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