Richard G. Wise1,
Ashley D. Harris1, Alan J. Stone1, Kevin Murphy1
1CUBRIC,
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
We present a method for measuring absolute cerebral metabolic oxygen consumption (CMRO2). ASL and BOLD FMRI were combined with intermittent hyperoxia applied at four different levels of hypercapnia, facilitated by end-tidal forcing. A BOLD signal model permitted estimation of venous oxygenation which when combined with CBF gave estimates CMRO2 in regions of interest and voxel-wise. The sensitivity of the hyperoxia induced BOLD signal changes to CBF induced changes in CBV reduced the need to assume vascular parameters in the BOLD signal model, potentially expanding the range of (patho)physiological conditions in which the method could be applied.