title: DANTE-prepared three-dimensional FLASH: A fast isotropic-resolution MR approach to morphological evaluation of the peripheral arterial wall at 3 Tesla.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To develop and assess a sequence using DANTE dark-blood preparation combined with FLASH readout (DANTE-FLASH) for rapid isotropic-resolution three-dimensional (3D) peripheral vessel wall imaging at 3 Tesla (T).
  
  
  METHODS
  Numerical simulations were first conducted to optimize imaging parameters for maximizing the wall-lumen contrast. The sequence, implemented at 3T, was then assessed in the bilateral superficial femoral arteries of eight healthy volunteers and three patients who were undergoing non-contrast-enhanced MRA due to known peripheral artery disease. Conventional 2D dark-blood turbo spin echo (DB-TSE) was performed as a reference in all subjects. Image quality on a 5-point scale, apparent wall signal-to-noise ratio, apparent wall-lumen contrast-to-noise ratio, wall thickness, wall area and lumen area were assessed or measured in all healthy subjects. Additionally, the agreement in the depiction of wall thickening or luminal stenosis between DANTE-FLASH and DB-TSE, or MRA was assessed using a 4-point scale in the patient study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DANTE-FLASH allowed for a 30-cm-long coverage within 4 min, whereas DB-TSE took approximately 7 min for a 9-cm-long coverage. Good image quality was obtained by DANTE-FLASH (score > 3). The wall thickness, wall area, and lumen area were all comparable (t-test; P = 0.334, 0.224 and 0.136) and showed excellent agreement between DANTE-FLASH and DB-TSE (intra-class correlation = 0.81, 0.85, and 0.98). The atherosclerotic plaques and luminal stenosis identified by DANTE-FLASH were in accordance with the findings by 2D DB-TSE or MRA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DANTE-FLASH is a 3D dark-blood MR sequence allowing for rapid isotropic-resolution imaging of the peripheral vessel wall at 3T.
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Lab for MRI, BCMIIS, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.|Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Guoxi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Yibin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Zixin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: MR R&D, Siemens Healthcare, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaoming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University, China.
authors.forename: Zhanming
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Shenzhen Key Lab for MRI, BCMIIS, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Debiao
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Zhaoyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio
keywords: DANTE preparation; dark-blood MRI; peripheral vessel wall