Coronary vessel-wall and lumen imaging using radial k-space acquisition with MRI at 3 Tesla |
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Authors: | Andrew N Priest P Martin Bansmann Kai Müllerleile Gerhard Adam |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany;(2) University Heart Center, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany;(3) Department of Medical Physics, Cambridge University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, CB2 2QQ, UK |
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Abstract: | This study investigates the feasibility of imaging the coronary lumen and vessel-wall, using MRI with a radial k-space trajectory
at 3 T. Such radial trajectories offer the advantage of greater vessel sharpness than traditional Cartesian trajectories.
This field strength offers an increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) compared with 1.5 T, which compensates for the slight
SNR reduction due to the radial sequence. Images of the coronary lumen were acquired for seven healthy volunteers. In ten
volunteers the vessel wall was scanned, with blood suppression using oblique-slab adiabatic re-inversion. Scans were performed
during free breathing, using prospective respiratory navigator-gating. Coronary lumen scans had SNR of 16.0±1.9 and contrast-to-noise
ratio (CNR) of 10.3±2.1, showing acceptable image quality. Vessel wall images showed good image quality, with mean SNR of
16.6±2.0/5.8±2.8/10.1±2.2 for vessel wall/lumen/epicardial fat. The wall-blood CNR was 10.7±2.7, and wall-fat CNR was 6.5±2.5.
It is concluded that radial gradient-echo imaging at 3 T is a promising method for coronary vessel-wall imaging, and is also
feasible for imaging the coronary lumen. |
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Keywords: | Coronary arteries MR angiography Vessel-wall imaging 3 Tesla Radial k-space trajectory |
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