title: Fast 3D isotropic imaging of the aortic vessel wall by application of 2D spatially selective excitation and a new way of inversion recovery for black blood imaging.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aortic vessel wall imaging requires large coverage and a high spatial resolution, which makes it prohibitively time-consuming for clinical use. This work explores the feasibility of imaging the descending aorta in acceptable scan time, using two-dimensional (2D) spatially selective excitation and a new way of inversion recovery for black blood imaging.
  
  
  METHODS
  The excitation pattern and field of view in a 3D gradient echo sequence are reduced in two dimensions, following the aorta's anisotropic geometry. Black blood contrast is obtained by partially inverting the blood's magnetization in the heart at the start of the cardiac cycle. Imaging is delayed until the inverted blood has filled the desired part of the aorta. The flip angle and delay are determined such that the blood signal is nulled upon arrival in the aorta.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Experiments on eight volunteers showed that the descending aortic vessel wall could be imaged over more than 15 cm at a maximal resolution of 1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 mm(3) in less than 5 min minimal scan time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This feasibility study demonstrates that time-efficient isotropic imaging of the descending aorta is possible by using 2D spatially selective excitation for motion artifact reduction and a new way of inversion recovery for black blood imaging.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mooiweer
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sbrizzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Cardiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hamza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: El Aidi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anouk L M
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Eikendal
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Department of Radiotherapy, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raaijmakers
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.|Philips Healthcare, Best, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Fredy
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cornelis A T
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Luijten
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoogduin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001011:Aorta / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D016477:Artifacts; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male
keywords: 2D spatially selective excitation; TFE sequence; aorta; black blood; subject specific RF pulse design; vessel wall imaging