CSF Mimicking Phantom based Evaluation of CSF Flow using Phase Contrast and Diffusion Imaging on a Highly Efficient Head Only Gradient System

Motivation: Accurate characterization of CSF flow dynamics is necessary for understanding of brain metabolite clearance pathways. Goal(s): To compare PC and DWI techniques for slow CSF flow velocity at 3T in a clinical scanner and a heald-only high performance gradient system using high fidelity ventricle phantoms. Approach: Flow pump experiments were performed on silicone phantom at each of the scanners using varying Vencs. Results: Greater velocity-to-noise ratio (VNR) gains and diffusion sensitivity were observed from scans collected on the high performance gradient systemImpact: Generating physiologically realistic cerebral ventricles phantom and leveraging high performance gradient systems can enable low CSF flow assessment for studying brain waste clearance pathways.