Patent ID: 6980845

Claim:
A method for imaging blood flow, comprising the steps of: perturbing arterial spins of blood flowing into a sample by applying a constant RF irradiation together with a magnetic field gradient; waiting a transit delay period before acquiring a first image of the sample; acquiring the first image of the sample; applying amplitude modulated RF irradiation with a magnetic field gradient which, together, mimic the effects of constant RF radiation unrelated to blood flow; acquiring a second image of the sample; generating a difference signal based on the first image and the second image that represents a blood flow image of blood flowing into the sample; and determining a duration of the transit delay period so as to permit blood having perturbed arterial spins to flow into a tissue, thus causing the blood flow image to be representative of perfusion, wherein the step of acquiring the first image and the step of acquiring the second image each comprises detecting a magnetic resonance signal reflected off of the sample.