AAIC 2022 | Arterial spin labelling for cerebral blood flow

Atticus Hainsworth, St George’s University of London, London, UK, discusses the purpose and method behind arterial spin labeling, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for measuring tissue perfusion using a freely diffusible intrinsic tracer. Dr Hainsworth explains that arterial spin labeling allows clinicians to map blood flow within the brain. His team recently investigated the test-retest reliability of pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling (pCASL) for cerebral blood flow in older adults with small vessel disease, finding it to be high in all tissue types. ASL is a valuable quantitative measure of cerebral blood flow and may be useful in routine clinical imaging and as a clinical trial endpoint. This interview took place at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2022 in San Diego, CA.