Abstract

Paramagnetic deoxyhemoglobin in venous blood is a naturally occurring contrast agent for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). By accentuating the effects of this agent through the use of gradient-echo techniques in high fields, we demonstrate in vivo images of brain microvasculature with image contrast reflecting the blood oxygen level. This blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast follows blood oxygen changes induced by anesthetics, by insulin-induced hypoglycemia, and by inhaled gas mixtures that alter metabolic demand or blood flow. The results suggest that BOLD contrast can be used to provide in vivo real-time maps of blood oxygenation in the brain under normal physiological conditions. BOLD contrast adds an additional feature to magnetic resonance imaging and complements other techniques that are attempting to provide positron emission tomography-like measurements related to regional neural activity.

Keywords

Magnetic resonance imagingOxygenationBlood oxygenationContrast (vision)Blood flowFunctional magnetic resonance imagingVenous bloodNuclear magnetic resonancePositron emission tomographyIn vivoBlood-oxygen-level dependentNeuroimagingMedicineChemistryNuclear medicineNeuroscienceRadiologyInternal medicinePhysicsPsychologyBiology

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Publication Info

Year
1990
Type
article
Volume
87
Issue
24
Pages
9868-9872
Citations
6395
Access
Closed

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Cite This

Satoshi Ogawa, T M Lee, A R Kay et al. (1990). Brain magnetic resonance imaging with contrast dependent on blood oxygenation.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , 87 (24) , 9868-9872. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.87.24.9868

Identifiers

DOI
10.1073/pnas.87.24.9868