STAR-HASTE: perfusion imaging without magnetic susceptibility artifact

Area of Science:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Medical Imaging
• Neuroimaging

Background:

• Pulsed arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a non-invasive MRI technique for perfusion imaging.
• Echo-planar imaging (EPI) is commonly used for ASL but is prone to artifacts.
• Existing ASL methods like EPISTAR utilize Signal Targeting with Alternating Radiofrequency (STAR) but rely on EPI acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate a novel ASL perfusion imaging technique, STAR-HASTE.
• To assess the performance of STAR-HASTE in reducing artifacts compared to EPI-based methods.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of STAR-HASTE for functional brain imaging.

Main Methods:

• Developed STAR-HASTE, combining STAR technique for blood labeling with Half-Fourier Single-shot Turbo Spin-Echo (HASTE) for data acquisition.
• Acquired perfusion imaging data using STAR-HASTE.
• Compared STAR-HASTE imaging with EPISTAR in functional brain imaging studies.
• Evaluated the presence of artifacts such as magnetic susceptibility and image distortion.

Main Results:

• STAR-HASTE successfully performed perfusion imaging with significantly reduced artifacts compared to EPI-based methods.
• The technique eliminated common EPI artifacts, including magnetic susceptibility and image distortion.
• Functional brain imaging results obtained with STAR-HASTE were comparable to those from EPISTAR.
• STAR-HASTE can be implemented on MR systems lacking EPI capabilities.

Conclusions:

• STAR-HASTE is a novel and effective ASL technique for perfusion imaging.
• It overcomes limitations of EPI-based methods by reducing artifacts and image distortion.
• This technique offers a viable alternative for functional brain imaging and can be widely adopted.