Blood Oxygen Level Dependent Magnetic Resonance Imaging Tissue Perfusion Protocol for Reliable Differentiation of Patients with Peripheral Artery Disease and Healthy Controls: Vascular Imaging

Introduction: While peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a clinical diagnosis, further characterisation of the ischaemic state is mainly based on imaging that delineates the arterial vasculature. There is currently no established imaging technique that directly quantifies the crucial pathophysiological process in PAD (i.e., tissue perfusion in the lower limb). Blood oxygenation level dependent magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD-MRI) is a non-invasive functional MRI technique that allows for the quantification of skeletal muscle perfusion without the use of contrast agents.