3D non-contrast-enhanced MR angiography with balanced steady-state free precession dixon method

✍ Scribed by Randall B. Stafford; Mohammad Sabati; Houman Mahallati; Richard Frayne

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 227 KB
• Volume: 59
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0740-3194
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.21479

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Balanced steady‐state free precession (bSSFP) is capable of producing ample fat‐water separation. In the case of the bSSFP Dixon method, the phase between fat and water can be manipulated by setting repetition time (TR) to an odd‐half‐multiple of the cycle time and adjusting the center frequency to acquire fat‐water in in‐phase and opposed‐phase images. Adding an image collected when fat and water are in‐phase to an image in which fat and water are opposed‐phase produces a water‐only image. Of the water signals, arterial blood has the highest T~2~/T~1~ contrast, making the arterial signal appear brighter than both venous blood and muscle in the final image. In this study, the bSSFP Dixon method was used to collect coronal water‐only three‐dimensional (3D) volumes at multiple anatomical stations in the legs of five healthy volunteers. The image quality was quantified by region‐of‐interest (ROI) analysis of signal intensities between arterial blood, venous blood, muscle, and fat. The images were also assessed for diagnostic quality by a trained radiologist. The bSSFP Dixon method was successful in producing non‐contrast‐enhanced (NCE) images of the blood vessels in the lower limbs. The work presented here is a proof‐of‐concept for the use of the bSSFP Dixon method for 3D peripheral angiography. Magn Reson Med, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.