Accuracy of phase contrast, black-blood, and bright-blood pulse sequences for measuring compliance and distensibility coefficients in a human-tissue mimicking phantom.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the accuracy of MR-derived luminal diameter variations and its implications for compliance (CC) and distensibility coefficients (DC) by comparison with high-resolution digital photography (HRDP) in a tissue-mimicking phantom with pulsatile flow.


METHODS
Diameters, CC, and DC extracted using cine phase-contrast (CPC), cine bright-blood (CBrB), and a cine black-blood (CBB) sequence were compared. The diameter in the left-right direction was compared against HRDP, as the gold-standard. The experiments were performed using 256(2) and 512(2) matrix sizes. Bland-Altman analysis was performed to compare each sequence with the gold-standard in terms of diameter changes over the simulated cardiac cycle.


RESULTS
The bias and 95% limits of agreement (LOA) for CBB and CBrB were comparable. The bias for CPC was larger, however, the LOA were comparable. Increasing spatial resolution improved agreement with HRDP for all sequences. CBrB-derived CC and DC were within 3% of the high resolution CBB values while CPC CC and DC were underestimated but still within 11%.


CONCLUSIONS
CPC images were found to underestimate the luminal area over the cardiac cycle. CBrB-derived diameters were more accurate in diastole while CBB-derived diameters gave the best results in systole. CC and DC varied depending on the pulse sequence.
Taviani
Valentina
V
Department of Radiology, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom. vt232@cam.ac.uk
Patterson
Andrew J
AJ
Worters
Pauline
P
Sutcliffe
Michael P F
MP
Graves
Martin J
MJ
Gillard
Jonathan H
JH
D000465:Algorithms; D001158:Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000502:physiology; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted