MR perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activation

Abstract The cerebral venous system plays a crucial role in neurological and vascular conditions, yet its hemodynamics remain underexplored due to its complexity and variability across individuals. To address this, we develop a venous perfusion source mapping method using Displacement Spectrum MRI,...

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Main Authors: Ekin Karasan, Jingjia Chen, Julian Maravilla, Zhiyong Zhang, Chunlei Liu, Michael Lustig
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-04-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59108-3
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author Ekin Karasan
Jingjia Chen
Julian Maravilla
Zhiyong Zhang
Chunlei Liu
Michael Lustig
author_facet Ekin Karasan
Jingjia Chen
Julian Maravilla
Zhiyong Zhang
Chunlei Liu
Michael Lustig
author_sort Ekin Karasan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The cerebral venous system plays a crucial role in neurological and vascular conditions, yet its hemodynamics remain underexplored due to its complexity and variability across individuals. To address this, we develop a venous perfusion source mapping method using Displacement Spectrum MRI, a non-contrast technique that leverages blood water as an endogenous tracer. Our technique encodes spatial information into the magnetization of blood water spins during tagging and detects it once the tagged blood reaches the brain’s surface, where the signal-to-noise ratio is 3–4 times higher. We resolve the sources of blood entering the imaging slice across short (10 ms) to long (3 s) evolution times, effectively capturing perfusion sources in reverse. This approach enables the measurement of slow venous blood flow, including potential contributions from capillary beds and surrounding tissue. We demonstrate perfusion source mapping in the superior cerebral veins, verify its sensitivity to global perfusion modulation induced by caffeine, and establish its specificity by showing repeatable local perfusion modulation during neural activation. From all blood within the imaging slice, our method localizes the portion originating from an activated region upstream.
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issn 2041-1723
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spelling doaj-art-ffd4ce1c8d6f48419fa5ea1c470682672025-08-20T03:15:09ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-04-0116111510.1038/s41467-025-59108-3MR perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activationEkin Karasan0Jingjia Chen1Julian Maravilla2Zhiyong Zhang3Chunlei Liu4Michael Lustig5Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, BerkeleyDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, BerkeleyDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, BerkeleySchool of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, BerkeleyDepartment of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, University of California, BerkeleyAbstract The cerebral venous system plays a crucial role in neurological and vascular conditions, yet its hemodynamics remain underexplored due to its complexity and variability across individuals. To address this, we develop a venous perfusion source mapping method using Displacement Spectrum MRI, a non-contrast technique that leverages blood water as an endogenous tracer. Our technique encodes spatial information into the magnetization of blood water spins during tagging and detects it once the tagged blood reaches the brain’s surface, where the signal-to-noise ratio is 3–4 times higher. We resolve the sources of blood entering the imaging slice across short (10 ms) to long (3 s) evolution times, effectively capturing perfusion sources in reverse. This approach enables the measurement of slow venous blood flow, including potential contributions from capillary beds and surrounding tissue. We demonstrate perfusion source mapping in the superior cerebral veins, verify its sensitivity to global perfusion modulation induced by caffeine, and establish its specificity by showing repeatable local perfusion modulation during neural activation. From all blood within the imaging slice, our method localizes the portion originating from an activated region upstream.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59108-3
spellingShingle Ekin Karasan
Jingjia Chen
Julian Maravilla
Zhiyong Zhang
Chunlei Liu
Michael Lustig
MR perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activation
Nature Communications
title MR perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activation
title_full MR perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activation
title_fullStr MR perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activation
title_full_unstemmed MR perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activation
title_short MR perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activation
title_sort mr perfusion source mapping depicts venous territories and reveals perfusion modulation during neural activation
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59108-3
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