MOdulation-Guided ENcoding (MOGEN) Scheme for Vessel-Encoded Arterial Spin Labeling Planning

Motivation: The OES method relies on Fourier-transform and does not consider VEASL spatial modulation information, making its effectiveness uncertain if the modulation deviates from a cosine function. Goal(s): Propose a new method, MOGEN, that utilizes modulation information to further enhance SNR and labeling accuracy. Approach: A dictionary containing all possible configurations is constructed first using the spatial modulation and matched it with the ideal encoding scheme to infer the VEASL parameters. We combined simulations and in-vivo experiments to demonstrate the effectiveness of the MOGEN across different scenarios. Results: MOGEN improves SNR, accommodates a broader range of PCASL parameters, and enhances the vessel-decoding robustness. Impact: Our study proposed a novel VEASL encoding method, MOGEN, guided by modulation information which is better suited to various PCASL parameter setting, further enhancing the SNR.