A
system and method for accurately producing
MR images of selected vascular compartments includes employing a control scan and a tag scan, each including velocity selective modules that suppress
signal from blood flowing faster than a given cutoff velocity, to acquire control and tag sets of
NMR data that may be subtracted to produce a compartment-specific MR image that is substantially free of information from stationary tissues and blood outside the selective vascular compartments. Accordingly, physiological parameters, such as
oxygen saturation (SaO2),
oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), and cerebral
metabolic rate of
oxygen (CMRO2), can be generated from the compartment-specific images. Further still, kinetic curves of oxygen exchange can be created, thus providing detailed insight into oxygen exchange dynamics.