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Effective motion‐sensitizing magnetization preparation for black blood magnetic resonance imaging of the heart
Author(s) -
Nguyen Thanh D.,
de Rochefort Ludovic,
Spincemaille Pascal,
Cham Matthew D.,
Weinsaft Jonathan W.,
Prince Martin R.,
Wang Yi
Publication year - 2008
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.21568
Subject(s) - steady state free precession imaging , magnetic resonance imaging , blood flow , nuclear magnetic resonance , imaging phantom , flip angle , nuclear medicine , cerebral blood flow , physics , medicine , biomedical engineering , cardiology , radiology
Purpose To investigate the effectiveness of flow signal suppression of a motion‐sensitizing magnetization preparation (MSPREP) sequence and to optimize a 2D MSPREP steady‐state free precession (SSFP) sequence for black blood imaging of the heart. Materials and Methods Using a flow phantom, the effect of varying field of speed (FOS), b‐value, voxel size, and flow pattern on the flow suppression was investigated. In seven healthy volunteers, black blood images of the heart were obtained at 1.5T with MSPREP‐SSFP and double inversion recovery fast spin echo (DIR‐FSE) techniques. Myocardium and blood signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) and myocardium‐to‐blood contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) were measured. The optimal FOS that maximized the CNR for MSPREP‐SSFP was determined. Results Phantom data demonstrated that the flow suppression was induced primarily by the velocity encoding effect. In humans, FOS = 10–20 cm/s was found to maximize the CNR for short‐axis (SA) and four‐chamber (4C) views. Compared to DIR‐FSE, MSPREP‐SSFP provided similar blood SNR efficiency in the SA basal and mid‐views and significantly lower blood SNR efficiency in the SA apical ( P = 0.02) and 4C ( P = 0.01) views, indicating similar or better blood suppression. Conclusion Velocity encoding is the primary flow suppression mechanism of the MSPREP sequence and 2D MSPREP‐SSFP black blood imaging of the heart is feasible in healthy subjects. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;28:1092–1100. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.