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Quantitative high-resolution measurement of cerebrovascular physiology with slip-ring CT
L M Hamberg1, G J Hunter, E F Halpern
1Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.
Purpose:
To implement and validate spiral slip-ring CT for use in cerebrovascular studies.
Methods:
Continuous data were acquired from an experimental, first-pass, iodine contrast, bolus study by unidirectional X-ray tube rotation, and images were reconstructed at 100-millisecond intervals. Functional maps of cerebral blood volume (CBV) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) were constructed with voxel-by-voxel gamma variate fitting. Reproducibility studies, different injection volumes and sites, and CO2 challenge were applied to verify the technique.
Results:
Average absolute cortical gray and white matter and basal ganglia results were reproducible within +/- 0.8 ml/100 g for CBV and +/- 20 ml/100 g per minute for CBF, CBV response to changing arterial CO2 tension was significant only in cortical gray matter and basal ganglia; CBF response was significant in gray and white matter, as well as in the basal ganglia.
Conclusion:
Functional CT and constructed functional maps provide an optimal, high-resolution tool with which to visualize cerebrovascular parameters and their changes.