Table 2.

Slice and sampling point selection criteria. The number in parenthesis corresponds to the total number of sampling points per slice for a certain region of interest.

Slice	Criteria	Sampling points
Low	Must include brainstem, carotid arteries, basilar artery and superior sagittal sinus	Carotid arteries (1), basilar artery (1), and sagittal sinus (1)
Low-middle	Must include basal ganglia (i.e. caudate heads and lentiform nuclei), thalami, third ventricle, and horns of the lateral ventricles	Superior sagittal sinus (1), CSF (12), GMD (12), GMC (12), and WM (10)
Middle-high	Must be two-four slices above the previous slice in which basal ganglia are not visible, but centrum semiovale and ventricles	Superior sagittal sinus (1), CSF (8), GMC (6), and WM (28)
High	Must be the first or second slice above the ventricles	Superior sagittal sinus (1), GMC (6), and WM (28)