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Phase contrast ultrashort TE: A more reliable technique for measurement of high‐velocity turbulent stenotic jets
Author(s) -
O'Brien Kieran R.,
Myerson Saul G.,
Cowan Brett R.,
Young Alistair A.,
Robson Matthew D.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.22051
Subject(s) - dephasing , imaging phantom , physics , jet (fluid) , signal (programming language) , flow velocity , turbulence , nuclear magnetic resonance , flow (mathematics) , optics , mechanics , computer science , quantum mechanics , programming language
Accurate measurement of peak velocity is critical to the assessment of patients with stenotic valvular disease. Conventional phase contrast (PC) methods for imaging high‐velocity jets in aortic stenosis are susceptible to intravoxel dephasing signal loss, which can result in unreliable measurements. The most effective method for reducing intravoxel dephasing is to shorten the echo time (TE); however, the amount that TE can be shortened in conventional sequences is limited. A new sequence incorporating velocity‐dependent slice excitation and ultrashort TE (UTE) centric radial readout trajectories is proposed that reduces TE from 2.85 to 0.65 ms. In a high‐velocity stenotic jet phantom, a conventional sequence had >5% flow error at a flow rate of only 400 mL/s (velocity >358 cm/s), whereas the PC‐UTE showed excellent agreement (<5% error) at much higher flow rates (1080 mL/s, 965 cm/s). In vivo feasibility studies demonstrated that by measuring velocity over a shorter time the PC‐UTE approach is more robust to intravoxel dephasing signal loss. It also has less inherent higher‐order motion encoding. This sequence therefore demonstrates potential as a more robust method for measuring peak velocity and flow in high‐velocity turbulent stenotic jets. Magn Reson Med, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.