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Original Research
Halting the effects of flow enhancement with effective intermittent zeugmatographic encoding (HEFEWEIZEN) in SSFP
Article first published online: 22 APR 2009
DOI: 10.1002/jmri.21744
Copyright © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
Derakhshan, J. J., Griswold, M. A., Sunshine, J. L. and Duerk, J. L. (2009), Halting the effects of flow enhancement with effective intermittent zeugmatographic encoding (HEFEWEIZEN) in SSFP. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging, 29: 1163–1174. doi: 10.1002/jmri.21744
Publication History
- Issue published online: 22 APR 2009
- Article first published online: 22 APR 2009
- Manuscript Accepted: 3 FEB 2009
- Manuscript Received: 1 OCT 2008
Funded by
- Siemens Medical Solutions-MRI
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Grant Number: F30HL094002
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- dark blood MRI;
- magnetization preparation;
- TrueFISP;
- steady state free precession;
- bSSFP;
- carotid stenosis
Abstract
Purpose
To describe a new method for performing dark blood (DB) magnetization preparation in TrueFISP (bSSFP) and apply the technique to high-resolution carotid artery imaging.
Materials and Methods
The developed method (HEFEWEIZEN) provides directional flow suppression, while preserving bSSFP contrast, by periodically applying spatial saturation in short repetition time (TR) TrueFISP. Steady-state free precession (SSFP) conditions are maintained throughout the acquisition for the imaging slice magnetization. HEFEWEIZEN was implemented on a 1.5 T scanner with standard receiver coils. Studies were performed in phantoms, eight asymptomatic volunteers, and two patients with low- and high-grade carotid artery stenosis.
Results
Average flow suppression was 88% ± 4% (arterial) and 85% ± 3% (venous) in a multislice study. Stationary signal, contrast, and fine details were maintained with only slight signal suppression (11% ± 11%). Comparison to diffusion-prepared SSFP in the common carotid artery demonstrated significant improvement in wall-lumen contrast-to-noise ratio efficiency (P = 0.024). DB contrast was achieved with only 13% increased acquisition time (14.3 sec). Further acceleration was possible by confining the DB preparation to the central 60% of k-space.
Conclusion
A fast, short TR, DB TrueFISP pulse sequence was developed and tested in the carotid arteries of asymptomatic volunteers and patients. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;29:1163–1174. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.