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Multislice dark‐blood carotid artery wall imaging: A 1.5 T and 3.0 T comparison
Author(s) -
Koktzoglou Ioannis,
Chung YiuCho,
Mani Venkatesh,
Carroll Timothy J.,
Morasch Mark D.,
Mizsei Gabor,
Simonetti Orlando P.,
Fayad Zahi A.,
Li Debiao
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.20563
Subject(s) - multislice , image resolution , lumen (anatomy) , carotid arteries , nuclear medicine , medicine , fast spin echo , contrast to noise ratio , common carotid artery , nuclear magnetic resonance , image quality , magnetic resonance imaging , physics , radiology , optics , artificial intelligence , image (mathematics) , computer science
Purpose To compare two multislice turbo spin‐echo (TSE) carotid artery wall imaging techniques at 1.5 T and 3.0 T, and to investigate the feasibility of higher spatial resolution carotid artery wall imaging at 3.0 T. Materials and Methods Multislice proton density‐weighted (PDW), T2‐weighted (T2W), and T1‐weighted (T1W) inflow/outflow saturation band (IOSB) and rapid extended coverage double inversion‐recovery (REX‐DIR) TSE carotid artery wall imaging was performed on six healthy volunteers at 1.5 T and 3.0 T using time‐, coverage‐, and spatial resolution–matched (0.47 × 0.47 × 3 mm 3 ) imaging protocols. To investigate whether improved signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) at 3.0 T could allow for improved spatial resolution, higher spatial resolution imaging (0.31 × 0.31 × 3 mm 3 ) was performed at 3.0 T. Carotid artery wall SNR, carotid lumen SNR, and wall‐lumen contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) were measured. Results Signal gain at 3.0 T relative to 1.5 T was observed for carotid artery wall SNR (223%) and wall‐lumen CNR (255%) in all acquisitions ( P < 0.025). IOSB and REX‐DIR images were found to have different levels of SNR and CNR ( P < 0.05) with IOSB values observed to be larger. Normalized to a common imaging time, the higher spatial resolution imaging at 3.0 T and the lower spatial resolution imaging at 1.5 T provided similar levels of wall‐lumen CNR ( P = NS). Conclusion Multislice carotid wall imaging at 3.0 T with IOSB and REX‐DIR benefits from improved SNR and CNR relative to 1.5 T, and allows for higher spatial resolution carotid artery wall imaging. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.