High-speed black blood imaging of vessel stenosis in the presence of pulsatile flow. |
| |
Authors: | D Chien A Goldmann R R Edelman |
| |
Affiliation: | Department of Radiology, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA. |
| |
Abstract: | Stenosis phantoms were created to study the ability of "black blood" methods to image a vessel stenosis in the presence of pulsatile flow. Black blood images were acquired with a modified TurboFLASH (fast low-angle shot) method that eliminates flow signal by applying a set of prepulses before segmented data acquisition. With this high-speed approach, imaging can be completed within 16 seconds. This technique was compared with conventional spin-echo black blood, gradient-echo black blood, and gradient-echo bright blood methods. Loss of flow signal, which extended beyond the site of the stenosis, was seen on the gradient-echo bright blood images. The pattern of signal loss varied with the type of stenosis. Flow voids were achieved with spin-echo black blood imaging; however, substantial ghosting artifacts were seen. With gradient-echo black blood imaging, it was difficult to eliminate all flow signal, particularly for in-plane flow. The modified TurboFLASH method produced high-quality black blood images in a fraction of the time needed for spin-echo imaging. It showed no ghosting artifacts even in the presence of pulsatile flow. |
| |
Keywords: | Blood vessels, MR, 9*.12143 Blood vessels, stenosis or obstruction, 9*.12143 Flow artifact Phantoms Pulse sequences Rapid imaging Vascular studies, 9*.12143 |
|
|