Assessment of regional blood flow by intravenous injection of 99m-technetium-pertechnetate

A general method for computation of regional blood flow from time-activity curves obtained after intravenous injection of 99m-TC pertechnetate is presented. The method is based on the well-known principle of Meier and Zierler, but, it also considers the dispersion of an intravenously injected activity-bolus as well as the recirculation of the nondiffusible tracer. The problems arising from the use of a nondiffusible indicator concerning the partition coefficient lambda are discussed. This method of blood flow determination is adopted for measurements of cerebral blood flow and some first results are discussed.