title: Three-dimensional flow-independent balanced steady-state free precession vessel wall MRI of the popliteal artery: preliminary experience and comparison with flow-dependent black-blood techniques.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the feasibility of flow-independent T2-prepared inversion recovery (T2IR) black-blood (BB) magnetization preparation for three-dimensional (3D) balanced steady-state free precession (SSFP) vessel wall MRI of the popliteal artery, and to evaluate its performance relative to flow-dependent double inversion recovery (DIR), spatial presaturation (SPSAT), and motion-sensitizing magnetization preparation (MSPREP) BB techniques in healthy volunteers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eleven subjects underwent 3D MRI at 1.5 Tesla with four techniques performed in a randomized order. Wall and lumen signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), wall-to-lumen contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), vessel wall area, and lumen area were measured at proximal, middle, and distal locations of the imaged popliteal artery. Image quality scores based on wall visualization and degree of intraluminal artifacts were also obtained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the proximal region, DIR and SPSAT had higher wall SNR and wall-to-lumen CNR than both MSPREP and T2IR. In the middle and distal regions, DIR and SPSAT failed to provide effective blood suppression, whereas MSPREP and T2IR provided adequate black blood contrast with comparable wall-to-lumen CNR and image quality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The feasibility of 3D SSFP imaging of the popliteal vessel wall using flow-independent T2IR was demonstrated with effective blood suppression and good vessel wall visualization. Although DIR and SPSAT are effective for thin slab imaging, MSPREP and T2IR are better suited for 3D thick slab imaging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawaji
authors.forename: Thanh D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Zhitong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Beatriu
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reig
authors.forename: Priscilla A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Winchester
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spincemaille
authors.forename: Martin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Prince
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D011150:Popliteal Artery / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity