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Whole‐brain arteriography and venography: Using improved velocity‐selective saturation pulse trains
Author(s) -
Li Wenbo,
Xu Feng,
Schär Michael,
Liu Jing,
Shin Taehoon,
Zhao Yansong,
Zijl Peter C.M.,
Wasserman Bruce A.,
Qiao Ye,
Qin Qin
Publication year - 2018
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.26864
Subject(s) - pulse (music) , venography , magnetic resonance angiography , medicine , radiology , carotid arteries , flip angle , nuclear medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance , biomedical engineering , materials science , physics , optics , cardiology , thrombosis , detector
Purpose To develop velocity‐selective (VS) MR angiography (MRA) protocols for arteriography and venography with whole‐brain coverage. Methods Tissue suppression using velocity‐selective saturation (VSS) pulse trains is sensitive to radiofrequency field (B 1 +) inhomogeneity. To reduce its sensitivity, we replaced the low‐flip‐angle hard pulses in the VSS pulse train with optimal composite (OCP) pulses. Additionally, new pulse sequences for arteriography and venography were developed by placing spatially selective inversion pulses with a delay to null signals from either venous or arterial blood. The VS MRA techniques were compared to the time‐of‐flight (TOF) MRA in six healthy subjects and two patients at 3T. Results More uniform suppression of stationary tissue was observed when the hard pulses were replaced by OCP pulses in the VSS pulse trains, which improved contrast ratios between blood vessels and tissue background for both arteries (0.87 vs. 0.77) and veins (0.80 vs. 0.59). Both arteriograms and venograms depicted all major cervical and intracranial arteries and veins, respectively. Compared to TOF MRA, VS MRA not only offers larger spatial coverage but also depicts more small vessels. Initial clinical feasibility was shown in two patients with comparisons to TOF protocols. Conclusion Noncontrast‐enhanced whole‐brain arteriography and venography can be obtained without losing sensitivity to small vessel detection. Magn Reson Med 79:2014–2023, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.