Whole-brain mapping of venous vessel size in humans using the hypercapnia-induced BOLD effect

Measuring the morphology of the cerebral microvasculature by vessel-size imaging (VSI) is a promising approach for clinical applications, such as the characterization of tumor angiogenesis and stroke. Despite the great potential of VSI, this method has not yet found widespread use in practice due to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2010-06, Vol.51 (2), p.765-774
Main Authors: Jochimsen, Thies H., Ivanov, Dimo, Ott, Derek V.M., Heinke, Wolfgang, Turner, Robert, Möller, Harald E., Reichenbach, Jürgen R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Blood volume
BOLD
Brain - blood supply
Brain Mapping - methods
Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology
Clinical medicine
Contrast agents
Female
Humans
Hypercapnia
Hypercapnia - physiopathology
Hyperoxia
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Standard deviation
Veins - anatomy & histology
Vessel density
Vessel-size imaging
Young Adult
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Summary:Measuring the morphology of the cerebral microvasculature by vessel-size imaging (VSI) is a promising approach for clinical applications, such as the characterization of tumor angiogenesis and stroke. Despite the great potential of VSI, this method has not yet found widespread use in practice due to the lack of experience in testing it on healthy humans. Since this limitation derives mainly from the need for an invasive injection of a contrast agent, this work explores the possibility to employ instead the easily accessible blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) effect for VSI of the venous microstructure. It is demonstrated that BOLD-VSI in humans can be realized by a hypercapnic challenge using a fast gradient-echo (GE) and spin-echo (SE) sequence at 7T. Reproducible maps of the mean venous vessel radius, based on the BOLD-induced changes in GE and SE relaxation rates, could be obtained within a scan time of 10min. Moreover, the method yields maps of venous blood volume and vessel density. Owing to its non-invasive character, BOLD-VSI provides a low-risk method to analyze the venous microstructure, which will not only be useful in clinical applications, but also provide a better understanding of BOLD effect.
ISSN:1053-8119
1095-9572
DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.02.037