Swallowing, arterial pulsation, and breathing induce motion artifacts in carotid artery MRI.
OBJECTIVE
To identify and quantify the potential sources of motion in carotid artery imaging.


METHODS
Two healthy volunteers and 12 patients (20-75 years old) with atherosclerotic disease were scanned on a Philips Intera 1.5T system. A single-shot balanced-fast field echo (bFFE) sequence was used to acquire real-time axial views of the carotid artery wall (three images per second). A three-step acquisition protocol was performed to analyze the three types of motion (arterial pulsation, breathing, and swallowing) separately. The isocenter carotid artery motion amplitude in either the x or y direction was measured. Radial variation in the carotid lumen between the systolic and diastolic phases was analyzed. Motion frequency was reported for each patient.


RESULTS
Significant motion related to arterial pulsation (amplitude = 0.27-0.93 mm, mean = 0.6, SD = 0.19), breathing (amplitude = 0.5-3.6 mm, mean = 1.56, SD = 0.99)), and swallowing (amplitude = 1.4-9.2 mm, mean = 4.7, SD = 2.4) were visualized.


CONCLUSIONS
Pulsation, breathing, and swallowing are sources of significant motion in the carotid artery wall. Such motion should be considered in the future to improve carotid artery image quality.
Boussel
Loic
L
Department of Radiology, University Hospital Center, Lyon, France. loic.boussel@libertysurf.fr
Herigault
Gwenael
G
de la Vega
Alejandro
A
Nonent
Michel
M
Douek
Philippe Charles
PC
Serfaty
Jean Michel
JM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016477:Artifacts; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000502:physiology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009038:Motion; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D012119:Respiration