Recent Advances in MR Imaging-based Quantification of Brain Oxygen Metabolism

The metabolic rate of oxygen (MRO₂) is fundamental to tissue metabolism. Determination of MRO₂ demands knowledge of the arterio-venous difference in hemoglobin-bound oxygen concentration, typically expressed as oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), and blood flow rate (BFR). MRI is uniquely suited for measurement of both these quantities, yielding MRO₂ in absolute physiologic units of µmol O₂ min^-1/100 g tissue. Two approaches are discussed, both relying on hemoglobin magnetism. Emphasis will be on cerebral oxygen metabolism expressed in terms of the cerebral MRO₂ (CMRO₂), but translation of the relevant technologies to other organs, including kidney and placenta will be touched upon as well. The first class of methods exploits the blood's bulk magnetic susceptibility, which can be derived from field maps. The second is based on measurement of blood water T₂, which is modulated by diffusion and exchange in the local-induced fields within and surrounding erythrocytes. Some whole-organ methods achieve temporal resolution adequate to permit time-series studies of brain energetics, for instance, during sleep in the scanner with concurrent electroencephalogram (EEG) sleep stage monitoring. Conversely, trading temporal for spatial resolution has led to techniques for spatially resolved approaches based on quantitative blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) or calibrated BOLD models, allowing regional assessment of vascular-metabolic parameters, both also exploiting deoxyhemoglobin paramagnetism like their whole-organ counterparts.