FUNCTIONAL CEREBRAL IMAGING BY SUSCEPTIBILITY-CONTRAST NMR

In vivo measurement of cerebral physiology by dynamic contrast‐enhanced NMR is demonstrated. Time‐resolved images of the cerebral transit of paramagnetic contrast agent were acquired using a new ultrafast NMR imaging technique and a novel mechanism of image contrast based on microscopic changes in tissue magnetic susceptibility. Global hypercapnia in dogs was used to establish the relationship between susceptibility‐induced signal change and brain blood volume, and the response of gray and white matter to this microvascular stimulus was measured. © 1990 Academic Press, Inc. Copyright © 1990 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company