Qinyang Shou¹, Xingfeng Shao¹, Kimberly Felix², Brandon Ojogho¹, Xuejuan Jiang^2,3, Megan M Herting², and Danny JJ Wang^1
1Laboratory of Functional MRI Technology (LOFT), Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³Department of Ophthalmology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between water exchange rate (kw) of blood brain barrier and age. Diffusion Prepared pCASL technique was used to measure kw in four datasets with a wide range of age (8 to 81 years). Global and regional kw values as well as cerebral blood flow and arterial transit time were analyzed. The results show an overall trend of decreasing kw with age, in parietal and parahippocampal regions there are U-shaped and inverted U-shaped changes of kw with age.

Tryggve Holck Storås¹, Svein Are Vatnehol^2,3, Geir Ringstad⁴, Kyrre Holck Emblem⁵, and Per Kristian Eide^6,7
1Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, ²The Intervention Centre, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, ³Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, Drammen, Norway, ⁴Department of Radiology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, ⁵Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, ⁶Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, ⁷Department of Neurosurgery, Oslo University Hospital – Rikshospitale, Oslo, Norway

Quantitative assessment of T1 enhancement after intrathecal administration of Gd-contrast may remove present challenges due to image scaling varying between acquisitions. The compressed SENSE technique allow 3D-Look-Locker-TFE acquisitions with isotropic 1 mm resolution and full brain coverage to be run in clinically feasible times. A clinical example is demonstrated and a small phantom study exploring further improvements based on trade-offs between undersampling and reduced saturation effects is presented. 

Jun-Hee Kim¹, Jae-Geun Im¹, and Sung-Hong Park^1
1Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea, Republic of

To study CSF dynamics and brain functional activity simultaneously with quantitative aspect, we proposed a new method for quantifying CSF pulsatility information based on an interslice CSF pulsation model in 4th ventricle of EPI-based fMRI (CSFpulse). The proposed CSFpulse successfully detected the higher CSF flow during the resting state than the typical task states, both in quantitative and time course aspects. Also, CSFpulse was significantly correlated with stroke volume measured using phase contrast MRI during functional states. Based on these results, CSFpulse can be used for investigating functional changes in BOLD and CSF pulsation simultaneously based on conventional EPI-based fMRI.

Nien-Chu Shih¹, Karen Lincoln², Farshid Sepehrband¹, and Jeiran Choupan^1
1USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

The perivascular space (PVS) has been reported to clear Amyloid-β (Aβ) and metabolic wastes during sleep. However, the relationship between sleep and PVS in a healthy cohort is still unclear. We investigate the association between PVS and sleep across different age groups. We found that the effect of sleep on PVS volume varies in the young and older population.

Nivedita Agarwal^1,2,3, Denis Peruzzo¹, John Dewitt Port⁴, Roxana Octavia Carare⁵, and Graeme Bydder^6
1Neuroradiology, I.R.C.C.S. Eugenio Medea, Bosisio Parini, Italy, ²Radiology, Azienda Provinciale per i Servizi Sanitari, Rovereto, Italy, ³Neurosciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, ⁴Neuroradiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States, ⁵University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, ⁶University of San Diego, California, CA, United States

Apart from the study of meningeal diseases, cortical metastases and multiple sclerosis, T2-W FLAIR is used for analyzing the CSF drainage of fluids. However, little is known regarding gadolinium induced signal intensity (SI) changes in the normal gray (GM) and white matter (WM). The SI ratios GM/WM and CSF/WM increase by 2.5% and 7% respectively whereas the SI in WM does not change. These findings are important for the interpretation of clinical findings and will provide better understanding of the movement of neurofluids in the human brain at early time points (e.g.4-5 minutes after GBCA injection). 

Lei Wei¹, MIng Ding¹, yuwen zhang¹, and he wang^1,2
1Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intel, ShangHai City, China, ²Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, ShangHai City, China

Free water imaging is a novel tool to study human brain. Recently, the free water has been used in aging disease researach. However, the role of free water in human cortex macroscopic is still unknown. This work shows the relationship between the cortical free water and the cortical thickness, and investigate the underlying molecular and genetic mechanism of the association. Neurons and astrocytes are strongly associated with the free water and the macroscopic organization. 

Alba Iruela Sanchez¹, Valentin H. Prevost², Alicia Palomar Garcia¹, Wolter de Graaf³, and Bruno Triaire^2
1Canon Medical Systems Spain and Portugal, Barcelona, Spain, ²Canon Medical Systems Corporation, Tochigi, Japan, ³Canon Medical Systems Europe, Zoetermeer, Netherlands

This study evaluates the feasibility of different approaches for the visualization of endolymphatic content in inner ear structures on 1.5T MR systems without the need of contrast injection. The results show that using an optimized high-resolution 3D T2w sequence combined with DLR-based denoising tools it is possible to visualize the utricle and saccule structures on healthy volunteers. The next step will be testing this technique on patients with endolymphatic hydrops.