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Four‐dimensional flow MRI using spiral acquisition
Author(s) -
Sigfridsson Andreas,
Petersson Sven,
Carlhäll CarlJohan,
Ebbers Tino
Publication year - 2012
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.23297
Subject(s) - spiral (railway) , streamlines, streaklines, and pathlines , blood flow , biomedical engineering , thoracic aorta , temporal resolution , aorta , medicine , radiology , computer science , mathematics , physics , cardiology , mathematical analysis , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
Time‐resolved three‐dimensional phase‐contrast MRI is an important tool for physiological as well as clinical studies of blood flow in the heart and vessels. The application of the technique is, however, limited by the long scan times required. In this work, we investigate the feasibility of using spiral readouts to reduce the scan time of four‐dimensional flow MRI without sacrificing quality. Three spiral approaches are presented and evaluated in vivo and in vitro against a conventional Cartesian acquisition. In vivo, the performance of each method was assessed in the thoracic aorta in 10 volunteers using pathline‐based analysis and cardiac output analysis. Signal‐to‐noise ratio and background phase errors were investigated in vitro. Using spiral readouts, the scan times of a four‐dimensional flow acquisition of the thoracic aorta could be reduced 2–3‐fold, with no statistically significant difference in pathline validity or cardiac output. The shortened scan time improves the applicability of four‐dimensional flow MRI, which may allow the technique to become a part of a clinical workflow for cardiovascular functional imaging. Magn Reson Med, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.