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Evaluation of a tailored injection profile (TIP) algorithm for uniform contrast‐enhanced signal intensity profiles in MR angiography
Author(s) -
Wilson Gregory J.,
Maki Jeffrey H.
Publication year - 2016
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.25298
Subject(s) - magnetic resonance angiography , signal (programming language) , intensity (physics) , nuclear medicine , angiography , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , nuclear magnetic resonance , biomedical engineering , materials science , radiology , physics , optics , computer science , programming language
Purpose To evaluate a contrast agent injection method that provides constant magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal intensity throughout a contrast‐enhanced MR angiography acquisition. Materials and Methods A tailored injection profile (TIP) algorithm was developed that used the signal intensity profile from a test bolus as an impulse response function, and predicted the response to various multiphasic injection profiles. Antecubital vein injections were administered via a commercially available multiphasic power injector. The TIP algorithm evaluated the predicted responses and selected the injection that best matched the desired (20‐sec plateau) profile. Resulting signal intensity profiles from tailored and standard injection profiles were compared in 20 subjects (10 each). All subjects received a weight‐based single‐dose (0.1 mmol/kg) of gadoteridol, and abdominal aorta signal intensities were measured at 3T with a time‐resolved, thick‐slice, 3D spoiled‐gradient‐echo MR sequence with parameters approximating contrast‐enhanced MR angiography. The single‐phase, standard injection was injected at 1.6 mL/sec. Results Full‐width at 80% maximum (FW80M) signal intensity was significantly longer for the tailored injection profiles (23.0 ± 2.2 vs. 9.0 ± 4.2 sec; P < 0.01). Concurrently, the profile peak signal intensity was reduced by 19% for the tailored profiles (12.0 ± 3.1 vs. 14.8 ± 2.8 times baseline; P = 0.058), nearly reaching significance. Conclusion Multiphasic tailored injections from a power injector produced longer signal intensity profiles (156% increase in FW80M) with an accompanying decrease (19%) in peak signal intensity compared to a standard, single‐phase injection. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:1664–1672.