Cerebral circulation measurement with ¹⁵O-PET: as a tool for validating newly-developed methods

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) with the use of ¹⁵O-labeled compounds allows estimates of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygen metabolism in a quantitative fashion. In addition to well-known clinical utility for understanding of the pathophysiology of cerebrovascular diseases, a role as a tool for validating newly-developed methods is extremely important. In clinical practice, other imaging modality, i. e. the bolus tracking technique with computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and the completely non-invasive arterial spin labeling (ASL) MR imaging, is frequently used; however, its reliability for the quantitative CBF measurement is still in debate. Direct comparisons with ¹⁵O PET in clinical research are quite useful for validating the methods. Future studies dedicated for shortening the examination time and non-invasive techniques are required to promote the use of ¹⁵O PET.