Improving pCASL CBF mapping in neonates and adults with enhanced background suppression and complex subtraction

Motivation: Standard arterial spin labeling (ASL) uses modest background-suppression to enhance SNR, which may not be optimal in reducing noise. Goal(s): Our goal was to further improve the SNR in ASL and reliably measure the cerebral blood flow (CBF) in low-perfusion scenarios such as neonates. Approach: We utilized an enhanced background suppression to minimize the signal from static background tissue. Complex subtraction of control/labeled signals was done to correct the magnetization sign-switching in between. Results: Enhanced background suppression combined with complex subtraction improved the reliability of CBF measurement in both neonates and adults, particularly benefiting the quality of neonatal CBF mapping. Impact: The improvement of SNR in ASL through enhanced background suppression coupling complex subtraction can facilitate the quality of cerebral blood flow measurement. The benefits are more pronounced in low-perfusion scenarios, such as bolstering the reliability of neonatal ASL.