藥物刺激的功能性磁振造影(Pharmacological MRI, phMRI)之研究是利用連續動態的造影方式，觀察刺激藥物所誘發的血液動力學反應。傳統的研究方法是將奈米氧化鐵(iron oxide nanoparticles)對比劑打入生物體內，由連續造影所得到的時間訊號曲線中求得相對大腦血容量(relative cerebral blood volume, rCBV)，並由此評估藥物刺激對神經功能的影響。然而，對於藥物成癮方面的研究，必須得到大腦血容量的絕對定量資訊以評估不同個體之間的差異及進行較長期的後續追蹤。
在本論文之研究中，我們結合將參數最佳化後的血管空間佔據(Vascular-Space Occupancy, VASO)方法及藥物刺激的功能性磁振造影技術，並得到高解析度的多切面絕對定量之大腦血容量，並應用在甲基安非他命(methamphetamine, mAMPH)刺激的大鼠模型上。

Pharmacological MRI (phMRI) studies utilize dynamic imaging methods to observe the drug induced hemodynamic response. Conventionally, the relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) was obtained from the time-intensity curve after administration of iron oxide nanoparticles, and the synaptic function provoked by pharmaceutical compounds can be estimated. However, for drug-addiction investigation, absolute quantification of phMRI could benefit inter-subject comparison and longitudinal follow-up.
In this study, we aim to combine a modified Vascular-Space Occupancy (VASO) method and the phMRI technique to acquire high-resolution multi-slice absolute quantification of cerebral blood volume (aCBV), and applied for methamphetamine (mAMPH) challenged phMRI on a rat model.

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