Macrovasculature-suppressed ASL MRI in neonates: quantification of cerebral blood flow and arterial transit time

A prominent feature in neonatal cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurement is the hyperperfusion in the deep brain region. Given the rich presence of large arteries in this region, it is plausible that macrovascular artifacts may play a major role in the hyperintense signals observed. This study presented a new MRI technique, pCASL with arterial suppression and flow suppression (AFS-pCASL) to minimize the macrovascular artifacts in neonates. We demonstrated that macrovascular artifacts in neonatal pCASL can be substantially suppressed, from which quantitative CBF and arterial transit time can be measured when applying the sequence in a multi-delay setting.