Recent advances in 3D time‐resolved contrast‐enhanced MR angiography

Contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE‐MRA) was first introduced for clinical studies approximately 20 years ago. Early work provided 3–4 mm spatial resolution with acquisition times in the 30‐second range. Since that time there has been continuing effort to provide improved spatial resolution with reduced acquisition time, allowing high resolution 3D time‐resolved studies. The purpose of this work is to describe how this has been accomplished. Specific technical enablers have been: improved gradients allowing reduced repetition times, improved k‐space sampling and reconstruction methods, parallel acquisition, particularly in two directions, and improved and higher count receiver coil arrays. These have collectively made high‐resolution time‐resolved studies readily available for many anatomic regions. Depending on the application, ～1 mm isotropic resolution is now possible with frame times of several seconds. Clinical applications of time‐resolved CE‐MRA are briefly reviewed. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2015;42:3–22. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.