A noninvasive method to determine intracranial pressure fluctuations from MR measurements of cerebrospinal fluid flow in the spinal canal

The periodic fluctuation of the intracranial pressure induced by the cardiac cycle is an important physiological signal that plays a role in many pathologies of the central nervous system. Currently, it can only be measured invasively with a pressure sensor inserted through a burr hole in the skull. Here, we present a noninvasive method to determine the intracranial pressure fluctuations from magnetic resonance measurements of cerebrospinal fluid flow in the spinal canal.