High-resolution peripheral vein bypass graft wall studies using high sampling efficiency inner volume 3D FSE.
A 3D inner-volume fast spin echo (3D IV-FSE) sequence was developed for ECG-gated, black-blood, T1- and T2-weighted vessel wall imaging of peripheral vein bypass grafts (PVBG). The sequence utilizes nonselective refocusing excitations to minimize echo spacings and a highly selective IV excitation scheme to minimize the need for oversampling of z-encode slice selections. The method was tested in eight PVBG patients who also underwent 2D FSE graft imaging. High-quality 3D imaging was achieved in all subjects, with significant spatial resolution and volume coverage gains compared to the more conventional 2D FSE sequences normalized for signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and scan times. Compared to previously proposed 3D IV-FSE methods, nonselective refocusing resulted in a more than 20% FSE echo train sampling efficiency increase while the use of highly selective IV excitation resulted in a 30% improvement in slice oversampling efficiency.
Mitsouras
Dimitris
D
Cardiovascular Imaging Section, Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. dmitsouras@alum.mit.edu
Mulkern
Robert V
RV
Owens
Christopher D
CD
Conte
Michael S
MS
Ersoy
Hale
H
Luu
Tuan M
TM
Whitmore
Amanda G
AG
Creager
Mark A
MA
Rybicki
Frank J
FJ
D000368:Aged; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D014680:Veins / Q000637:transplantation*