New Horizons for Arterial Spin Labeling

Over the last two decades researchers have been working on a contrast-agent free magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method called Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) for detecting blood flow changes within the brain and other organs. Recent improvements in imaging hardware, new strategies for efficient data sampling and sophisticated reconstruction algorithms have now brought the application out of research into clinical practice. Perfusion is an important physiological parameter for the diagnosis of organ function and is often used in various brain diseases, especially those associated with the cerebrovascular system, such as vascular stenosis or stroke. In Austria alone, about 20,000 people suffer from strokes very year. The search for an alternative to contrast-agent based perfusion imaging methods is of great interest, as contrast agents can generally lead to side effects. In the medical effects of discovered gadolinium deposits in the brains of patients who have received multiple injections of gadolinium are under discussion. In addition, the determination of changes in physiological blood flow through brain activity is of great interest and requires a complete non-invasive technique for multiple applications in research.