Pengling Ren¹, Tingting zhang¹, Haijun Niu², Yawen Liu², Linkun Cai², erwei zhao³, Yishi Wang⁴, Yi Zhu⁴, Dong Liu¹, Min Li¹, Wenjuan Liu¹, Penggang Qiao¹, Wei Zheng³, Zhenghan Yang¹, and Zhenchang Wang^1
1Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, ²School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, China, ³National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, ⁴Philips Healthcare, Beijing, China

Keywords: Blood vessels, Arterial spin labelling, Dobutamine Stress

It is not fully known whether dobutamine commonly clinically used in echocardiography and short-term treatment of congestive heart failure has effect on brain microcirculatory behavior. In this study, we sought to investigate the effect of dobutamine on cerebral haemodynamics in healthy volunteers. The results showed that dobutamine-induced stress significantly decreased the CBF in the anterior circulation, mainly in frontal lobe. Furthermore, volunteers with high BMI, large BA diameter and low SBP during dobutamine stress test are more likely to have stress-induced decrease of CBF.
 

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Pan LIU^1,2, Heimiri Monnier¹, Kimi Piedad Owashi¹, Serge Metanbou³, Cyrille Capel⁴, and Olivier Balédent^1,2
1CHIMERE UR 7516, Jules Verne University of Picardy, Amiens, France, ²Medical Image Processing Department, Amiens Picardy University Hospital, Amiens, France, ³Radiology Department, Amiens Picardy University Hospital, Amiens, France, ⁴Neurosurgery Department, Amiens Picardy University Hospital, Amiens, France

Keywords: Blood vessels, Velocity & Flow, real time phase contrast, phase contrast, cerebral blood flow

Real-time phase contrast sequences (RT-PC) appear to have great potential in clinical applications. However, it is important to validate RT-PC in the quantification of cerebral blood flow prior to its use in clinical applications. In this study, we analyzed RT-PC accuracy by comparing the segmentation area, flow rate and pulsatility index of cerebral vessels obtained from RT-PC and conventional phase contrast sequences. RT-PC with 2×2 mm² spatial resolution and 75ms/image temporal resolution can accurately quantify cerebral blood flow rate with an error of less than 3%. Higher temporal resolution in RT-PC could improve accuracy in cerebral arterial flow quantification.

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Lena Schmitzer¹, Stephan Kaczmarz^1,2, Jens Göttler¹, Michael Kallmayer³, Hans-Henning Eckstein³, Dennis Hedderich¹, Jan Kufer¹, Claus Zimmer¹, Christine Preibisch^1,4, and Nico Sollmann^1,5
1Department of Neuroradiology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, ²Philips GmbH Market DACH, Hamburg, Germany, ³Department for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, ⁴Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, ⁵Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany

Keywords: Blood vessels, Diffusion/other diffusion imaging techniques

Internal carotid artery stenosis (ICAS) is a known risk factor for stroke, additionally affecting brain structure and function. We investigated ICAS effects on white and grey matter structure using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and cortical thickness assessment, revealing alterations in various indices focused on the corpus callosum without signs of atrophy in grey matter. In addition, small vessel disease (SVD) burden, assessed by peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity (PSMD), was increased in ICAS patients. Taken together, the structural alterations in white matter might precede those in grey matter, supporting the relevance of assessment of microstructure to detect early changes.

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Jianing Tang^1,2, Elizabeth Joe³, Helena Chui³, and Lirong Yan^2,3
1Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States, ²Radiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States, ³Department of Neurology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Keywords: Blood vessels, High-Field MRI

Dysfunction of cerebral perforating arteries is a major pathology of small vessel disease. Previous study has demonstrated the pulsatility of cerebral perforating arteries can be measured by 7T high-resolution PC-MRI. In this study, we systematically compared the performance of PC-MRI with single and dual-VENC on pulsatility index (PI) measurements of cerebral perforating arteries. Our results showed that dual-VENC provides more reliable PI measurements than single VENC. PI measurements were insensitive to the temporal resolution of PC-MRI acquisition but showed greater variations with single VENC. The pilot  study suggests that PI of cerebral perforating arteries was significantly higher in aged participants.

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Yin Guo¹, Xin Wang², Gador Canton², Duygu Baylam Geleri ², Kaiyu Zhang², Niranjan Balu², Thomas S. Hatsukami², Mahmud Mossa-Basha^2,3, and Chun Yuan^2,4
1Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, ²University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, ³University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States, ⁴University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States

Keywords: Vessel Wall, Atherosclerosis

Contrast enhancement (CE), by the administration of gadolinium, has been shown as an important intracranial vessel wall MRI biomarker. In this study we have developed a CE map with 3D volume rendering, extended from a previously developed intracranial atherosclerosis analysis pipeline MOCHA. 3D CE map can help clinicians easily identify plaque contrast enhancement. It demonstrates CE’s spatial location relative to the vessel and provides reliable quantification of its intensity. It is a promising tool for future longitudinal studies to focus on the association between 3D CE map features and disease development. 

Rick J van Tuijl¹, Kimberley M Timmins¹, Birgitta K Velthuis¹, Pim van Ooij², Jaco J M Zwanenburg¹, Ynte M Ruigrok³, and Irene C van der Schaaf^1
1Radiology, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ²Pediatric Cardiology, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, ³Neurology, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

Keywords: Blood vessels, Velocity & Flow, High-Field MRI, Aneurysm

We investigated relationships between unruptured intracranial aneurysm (UIA) morphology and hemodynamics parameters measured with 7T 4D flow imaging in 35 patients with an UIA. Blood flow measured in the UIA was positively correlated with UIA size, and negatively correlated with elongation and shape index of UIA (a decrease in shape index is characteristic for unstable UIA (either growing or rupture)). Therefore, blood flow is an important parameter for risk evaluation of UIA. The described relations help toobtain better insight in risk parameters of UIA development, growth, and possible rupture.

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Hongwei Li¹, Xiali Shao², Bingyi Wang¹, Jian Wang^2,3, Jia Jia⁴, Zhensen Chen^1,5, He Wang^1,5,6, and Lirong Jin^4
1Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, ²Department of Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, ³Department of Radiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University (Xiamen Branch), Xiamen, China, ⁴Department of Neurology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan Universit, Shanghai, China, ⁵Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence (Fudan University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China, ⁶Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Keywords: Blood vessels, Brain

Increasing evidence showed that vascular changes might be involved in Parkinson's disease. However, the altered markers of neurovascular unit and cerebral vessels that serve as blood flow adaptors, remain unclear in early stage of de novo PD. In this study, we aimed to investigate regional cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and artery morphological changes in de novo PD patients including cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and normal cognition (PD-NC). Our data revealed that in the patient group, CVR was significantly reduced in left superior occipital gyrus, whose feeding arteries were dilated, but there was no significant change in CBF.

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Chao Xia^1,2, Jiaxin Zeng^1,2, Ziyu Li^1,2, Xia Wei^1,2, Xing Li^1,2, Yuan Sun^1,2, Na Hu^1,2, Yi Liu³, Kai Ai⁴, and Su Lui^1,2
1Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Department of Radiology, West China Hospital, Chengdu, China, ²Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China, ³Department of Neurosurgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China, ⁴Philips Healthcare, Xi'an, China

Keywords: Blood vessels, Vessels, moyamoya disease, amide proton transfer

To explore the alteration of amide proton transfer weighted (APTw) signal in different Suzuki stages and preinfarction period stages in patients with moyamoya disease (MMD), we enrolled 24 patients who underwent computed tomography perfusion (CTP), digital subtraction angiography (DSA), and APTw imaging. Although our results demonstrated that APTw values in the cerebral hemispheres of MMD patients with Suzuki stages V-VI and preinfarction period stage III are significantly higher than those in other stages, suggesting that the microenvironment of cerebral hemispheres in MMD patients with different Suzuki stages and preinfarction period stages suffers different severity of acidosis penumbra. 

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Dinil Sasi Sankaralayam¹, Wen Shi¹, Zixuan Lin², Anna DuVal³, Kaisha Hazel¹, Katie Ecoff³, Dengrong Jiang², Shiv Saidha³, and Hanzhang Lu^1
1Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ³Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States

Keywords: Blood vessels, Contrast Agent

There is an unmet need of a non-invasive technique to compute the water exchange between vascular and extra-vascular space in the brain since blood brain barrier (BBB) disruption is common in many pathologies and the state of art exogenous contrast agent based method cann’t be applied to all clinical population. So, the current study is aimed at computing a volume transfer constant (Ktrans) from water-extraction-with-phase-contrast-arterial-spin-labelling (WEPCAST) method and to compare it with the global Ktrans from DCE-MRI data. Results of the study finds a good correlation between Ktrans computed from WEPCAST and DCE-MRI data.

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Ryan Willoughby¹, Henrik Odéen², Jesse Jones³, and Mark Bolding^4
1Department of Radiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States, ²Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, ³Department of Neurosurgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States, ⁴Radiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States

Keywords: Blood vessels, Focused Ultrasound

Focused ultrasound (FUS) has gained clinical utility as a non-invasive treatment option, but applications to diseases affecting blood vessels in the brain are just now being investigated. MR acoustic radiation force imaging (MR-ARFI) of FUS-induced displacement and strain fields were evaluated along with diffusion imaging as a method of differentiating solid and liquid material inside a tissue-mimicking gelatin phantom. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) performed best as a solid-liquid classifier, and axial displacement performed worst. Normal and shear strain components performed better than displacement measurements alone.

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Anja Hohmann¹, Ke Zhang², Christoph Mooshage³, Johann Jende³, Lukas Rotkopf⁴, Heinz-Peter Schlemmer⁴, Martin Bendszus³, Wolfgang Wick^1,4, and Felix T. Kurz^3,4
1Department of Neurology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany, ²Department of Radiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany, ³Department of Neuroradiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany, ⁴German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany

Keywords: Blood vessels, Quantitative Imaging

Vessel architecture mapping (VAM) is a quantitative MR imaging technique based on dynamic changes in gradient-echo (R2*) and spin-echo (R2) relaxation rates during contrast agent administration, that can characterize cerebral blood vessel microstructure and their changes in vivo. We aimed to establish VAM parameter reference ranges in healthy brain tissue by scanning n=135 patients with whole-brain high resolution VAM at 3.0 Tesla MRI. Subsequent analysis revealed distinct microvascular profiles for cortical gray matter, supratentorial white matter and examined subcortical nuclei. These reference values may serve as a starting point for future VAM studies on cerebrovascular pathologies.

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Jackson E Moore¹, Deima Koko¹, Adam Richter¹, Ann Ragin¹, Fan Caprio², Sameer A Ansari¹, Susanne Schnell^1,3, Michael Markl¹, and Kelly Jarvis^1
1Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ³Department of Medical Physics, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

Keywords: Blood vessels, Velocity & Flow

Cerebrovascular dual-venc 4D flow MRI enables measurement of global and local intracranial 3D hemodynamics with full volumetric coverage of the circle of Willis. Hemodynamic analysis was completed using a semi-automated voxel-wise parametric mapping tool, enabling assessment of velocity-based parameters, including mean velocity, peak velocity, kinetic energy and time-to-peak velocity. The workflow reproducibility was evaluated with scan-rescan analysis for 10 subjects who underwent two MRI scans within 30 days. Global circle of Willis and hemispheric analysis regions showed good to excellent reproducibility for all parameters except for time-to-peak velocity. Regional analysis showed better reproducibility for parameters derived from systolic cardiac timepoints.

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Masahiro Enzaki¹, Minako Azuma², Yoshihito Kadota², Tenma Takahashi¹, Masami Yoneyama³, Hiroshi Hamano³, and Masanori Komi^1
1Division of Radiology, Miyazaki University Hospital, Miyazaki, Japan, ²Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, Japan, ³Philips Japan, Tokyo, Japan

Keywords: Blood vessels, Vessels

In MR carotid plaque imaging, black-blood imaging can diagnose plaque components and predict plaque hardness with a high degree of accuracy. In this study, we proposed T1-weighted black-blood carotid plaque images using non-ECG gated time-efficient Spiral spin-echo (SE) with Compressed SENSE (CS-Spiral SE) and compared with conventional ECG-gated DIR-TSE. We have demonstrated that the non-gated CS-Spiral SE could provide improved visualization in carotid plaque imaging with superior contrast to DIR-TSE with sufficient fat and blood signal suppression within a shorter scan time. It has a great potential to help more accurate assessment and characterization of the carotid atherosclerotic plaque.

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Melissa Emily Wright¹, Andrew Crofts¹, Saajan Davies¹, Michael Germuska¹, Jessica J Steventon², and Kevin Murphy^1
1Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, ²Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom

Keywords: Blood vessels, Arterial spin labelling

The current study investigated the influence of progesterone and oestrogen on cerebral blood flow (CBF) and arterial arrival time (AAT) across a menstrual cycle and multiple cortical and subcortical regions. 21 healthy female participants were scanned in a Siemens MAGNETOM Prisma 3T scanner and their bloods were taken to measure circulating hormones. Linear models found that while there was no interactive effect with region for either hormone, circulating oestrogen explained a significant portion of CBF value, while progesterone explained a significant portion of AAT value. Recommendations for future research are discussed. 

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Henning U. Voss^1,2, Liangdong Zhou², and Yi Li^2
1Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States, ²Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States

Keywords: Blood vessels, Vessels, Pulsatility, Pulse waves

The pulse pressure wave has been used as a marker for cardiovascular health but cannot be measured easily within the brain. We have developed an MRI protocol to image, track, and process intracranial pulse waves of the middle cerebral artery. The protocol allows for the estimation of pulsatility along the MCA and extends the estimation of standard pulse waveform indexes that are normally being used in the periphery to the brain. The reliability and reproducibility of this protocol is being tested on normal subjects and subjects with mild cognitive impairment.

 

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Linyun Xie¹, Yao Zhang², Hui Hong¹, Shan Xu¹, Lei Cui², Luwei Hong², Jixuan Li², and Peiyu Huang^1
1Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China, ²The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China

Keywords: Blood vessels, Velocity & Flow, Pulsatility

We investigate the association between the intracranial pulsatility assessed by 4D-flow imaging and white matter degeneration in a community cohort. White matter free water and tissue fractional anisotropy were used to reflect white matter degeneration. We found that the intracranial arterial pulsatility in different vessel segments was positively associated with increased free water, and negatively associated with tissue fractional anisotropy. After adjusting for age and vascular risk factors, the associations disappeared. Further investigations in larger samples are warranted.

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Eamon Doyle^1,2, Hannah Wiseman³, Isabel Torres³, Payal Shah⁴, John Wood^2,5, and Matthew Borzage^2,6
1Radiology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ³Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁴Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los, CA, United States, ⁵Division of Cardiology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ⁶Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Keywords: Blood vessels, Blood, flow

Measuring brain blood flow is possible with phase contrast (PC) imaging.  We assessed blood flow through and area of internal carotid and vertebral arteries in pediatric and adult populations.  Sequences parameters are suggested based upon the findings to facilitate PC acquisitions at other institutions.

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Kristina M Zvolanek^1,2, Jackson E Moore^2,3, Kelly Jarvis³, Adam Richter³, Sarah J Moum^3,4, and Molly G Bright^1,2
1Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Biomedical Engineering, McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, United States, ³Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ⁴Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Keywords: Blood vessels, Velocity & Flow, 4D flow

In a preliminary sample of healthy adolescents, we evaluated the relationship between hemodynamic function in large cerebral arteries and smaller cortical vessels. Specifically, we investigated correlations between 4D flow MRI-derived systolic blood velocity in the anterior, middle, and posterior cerebral arteries and BOLD cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) in associated vascular territories. Both the amplitude and delay of CVR were negatively correlated with systolic velocity. These results provide new insights into the mechanism of CVR and measures of macrovascular flow, but more work is needed to better understand these relationships. Our work establishes important normative data for future comparisons in cerebrovascular pathology.

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Jackson E Moore¹, Deima Koko¹, Kelly Jarvis¹, Abhinav Patel¹, Adam Richter¹, Ramez Abdalla¹, Maria Aristova¹, Ann Ragin¹, Fan Caprio², Sameer A Ansari¹, Susanne Schnell^1,3, and Michael Markl^4
1Radiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ²Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States, ³Department of Medical Physics, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany, ⁴Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States

Keywords: Blood vessels, Atherosclerosis

Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) accounts for 10-50% of acute ischemic strokes and is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality. We used a semi-automated voxel-wise velocity-based mapping approach to visualize and quantify global and regional peak velocities (PVs) in the Circle of Willis (CoW) in 31 ICAD patients with moderate to severe MCA or ICA stenosis and 23 healthy controls. Our findings indicate 4D flow MRI-based cerebrovascular PV mapping can detect asymmetric PV distribution in the CoW on hemispheric and vessel levels. Future work will include investigation of PV asymmetry measures in the assessment of ICAD progression and outcomes.

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Pei-Hsuan Kuo¹, Shuu-Jiun Wang^2,3,4, Jiing-Feng Lirng^2,5, Shih-Pin Chen^2,3,4, Chia-Hung Wu^2,5, Yu Kuo^2,5, and Chia-Feng Lu^1
1Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ²School of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁴Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ⁵Department of Radiology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan

Keywords: Blood vessels, Visualization

Reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS) shows reversible diffuse constriction of the cerebral arteries. Previous studies proposed manual measurement of vasoconstriction. However, the stenosis estimated by comparing the stenosed with proximally normal diameter might result in an underestimate of vasoconstriction for the long-segmental stenosis. Accordingly, we developed a quantitative vessel analysis platform to measure the vasoconstriction rate by comparing vessel diameters between acute and remission MR angiography. Our platform provided objective measures of vasoconstriction and further confirmed that acute RCVS presented not only local vasoconstriction but a large portion of short- and long-segmental vasoconstriction in all artery segments.