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Quantifying brain-wide cerebrospinal fluid flow dynamics using slow-flow-sensitized phase-contrast MRI
Zijing Dong1,2, Fuyixue Wang1,2, Amelia K Strom1,3
1Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|April 8, 2025
Summary
A new MRI technique quantifies slow cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow in the brain. This method reveals cardiac pulsation drives brain-wide CSF movement in the subarachnoid space (SAS).
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Medical Imaging
- Fluid Dynamics
Background:
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow is crucial for brain waste clearance.
- Current methods lack non-invasive tools to measure slow CSF flow in the subarachnoid space (SAS).
- Understanding brain-wide CSF dynamics is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel, non-invasive CSF flowmetry technique.
- To enable quantitative measurement of slow CSF flow velocity and direction throughout the brain.
- To investigate the physiological drivers of CSF movement in the SAS.
Main Methods:
- Phase-contrast MRI with a slow-flow-sensitized acquisition was employed.
- The technique achieved high sensitivity for measuring flow rates as low as 100 μm/s.
- Whole-brain coverage was achieved, from ventricles to the SAS.
Main Results:
- Repeatable CSF flow measurements were demonstrated.
- Cardiac pulsation was shown to induce coherent CSF flow changes within the SAS.
- Cardiac pulsation appears to have a stronger influence on brain-wide CSF flow than respiration.
Conclusions:
- The proposed CSF flowmetry technique is a valuable tool for studying CSF dynamics.
- This method advances the understanding of brain-wide CSF flow and waste clearance pathways.
- It enables a more holistic investigation of the human brain's fluidic system.
