Part 1 Diffusion imaging: principles of diffusion MR imaging and spectroscopy - molecular diffusion and nuclear magnetic resonance, diffusion imaging, diffusion spectroscopy; implementation - hardware considerations for diffusion/perfusion imaging, b factor, artifacts; applications - diffusion in biological tissues, diffusion in the CNS, temperature imaging by NMR. Part 2 Perfusion imaging: the concept of perfusion imaging - blood volumes, haematocrits and transit-times in parenchymal microvascular systems of the rat brain, principles of conventional techniques, brain function mapping; perfusion MR imaging (principles and applications) - tracer approaches, perfusion imaging with exogenous contrast agents, magnetic labelling; brain activation studies with blood oxygen level dependent (Bold) contrast MRI - intrinsic MRI methods for assessing tissue perfusion - deoxyhaemoglobin contrast in animal models, field strength and sequence issues, dynamic characteristics and data analysis methods, applications.
