VICTR: Venous transit time (VTT) Imaging by Changes in T1 Relaxation

Venous hemodynamics is not well-studied despite it is a crucial part of human vascular system and involves in many brain vascular diseases. Here, we developed a novel technique dubbed Venous transit time Imaging by Changes in T1 Relaxation (VICTR) to measure the time for blood to travel from capillary to veins, i.e., VTT. We verified VICTR on different locations of superior sagittal sinus and VTT showed regional dependency. The caffeine challenge study also validated VTT with the vasoconstriction effect. With excellent test-retest reproducibility, VTT may be a potential physiological biomarker to evaluate vessel tortuosity and detect venous pathologies.