Methodology of brain perfusion imaging

Numerous techniques have been proposed in the last 15 years to measure various perfusion-related parameters in the brain. In particular, two approaches have proven extremely successful: injection of paramagnetic contrast agents for measuring cerebral blood volumes (CBV) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) for measuring cerebral blood flows (CBF). This review presents the methodology of the different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques in use for CBV and CBF measurements and briefly discusses their limitations and potentials. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.