Correlation time mapping based on magnetic resonance velocimetry: Preliminary results on cerebrospinal fluid flow

A novel technique to analyze propagation of fluid flow pattern based on magnetic resonance (MR) velocimetry has been developed and applied to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics in intracranial space. This technique evaluates spatial distribution of the correlation time as well as correlation coefficient of velocity waveform with respect to an arbitrary reference waveform using quantitative velocity imaging with phase contrast (PC) method. Phantom experiments demonstrated that the propagation of the flow had no delay time because saline was incompressible and the pipes used for the phantom was rigid. In contrast, the propagation of CSF flow in a healthy volunteer appeared to have particular distribution of correlation time indicating that there was delay in the flow. These preliminary results suggest that the technique may yield abundant information concerning on CSF dynamics and thus useful to analyze driving force as well as abnormality in CSF dynamics.