Improved perfusion quantification in FAIR imaging by offset correction

Perfusion quantification using pulsed arterial spin labeling has been shown to be sensitive to the RF pulse slice profiles. Therefore, in Flow-sensitive Alternating-Inversion Recovery (FAIR) imaging the slice selective (ss) inversion slab is usually three to four times thicker than the imaging slice. However, this reduces perfusion sensitivity due to the increased transit delay of the incoming blood with unperturbed spins. In the present article, the dependence of the magnetization on the RF pulse slice profiles is inspected both theoretically and experimentally. A perfusion quantification model is presented that allows the use of thinner ss inversion slabs by taking into account the offset of RF slice profiles between ss and nonselective inversion slabs. This model was tested in both phantom and human studies.