Improved coronary MR angiography using wideband steady state free precession at 3 tesla with sub‐millimeter resolution |
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| Authors: | Hsu‐Lei Lee PhD Ajit Shankaranarayanan PhD Gerald M. Pohost MD Krishna S. Nayak PhD |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA;2. Global Applied Science Lab., GE Healthcare, Menlo Park, California, USA;3. Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
Purpose: To suppress off‐resonance artifacts in coronary artery imaging at 3 Tesla (T), and therefore improve spatial resolution. Materials and Methods: Wideband steady state free precession (SSFP) sequences use an oscillating steady state to reduce banding artifacts. Coronary artery images were obtained at 3T using three‐dimensional navigated gradient echo, balanced SSFP, and wideband SSFP sequences. Results: The highest in‐plane resolution of left coronary artery images was 0.68 mm in the frequency‐encoding direction. Wideband SSFP produced an average SNR efficiency of 70% relative to conventional balanced SSFP and suppressed off‐resonance artifacts. Conclusion: Wideband SSFP was found to be a promising approach for obtaining noncontrast, high‐resolution coronary artery images at 3 Tesla with reliable image quality. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010;31:1224–1229. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. |
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| Keywords: | coronary artery imaging balanced SSFP wideband SSFP alternating repetition time |
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