Measuring brain oxygenation in humans using a multiparametric quantitative blood oxygenation level dependent MRI approach.

Quantitative blood oxygenation level dependent approaches have been designed to obtain quantitative oxygenation information using MRI. A mathematical model is usually fitted to the time signal decay of a gradient-echo and spin-echo measurements to derive hemodynamic parameters such as the blood oxygen saturation or the cerebral blood volume. Although the results in rats and human brain have been encouraging, recent studies have pointed out the need for independent estimation of one or more variables to increase the accuracy of the method. In this study, a multiparametric quantitative blood oxygenation level dependent approach is proposed. A combination of arterial spin labeling and dynamic susceptibility contrast methods were used to obtain quantitative estimates of cerebral blood volume and cerebral blood flow. These results were combined with T [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]