Whole-brain vessel wall MRI: A parameter tune-up solution to improve the scan efficiency of three-dimensional variable flip-angle turbo spin-echo.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To propose and evaluate a parameter tune-up solution to expedite a three-dimensional (3D) variable-flip-angle turbo spin-echo (TSE) sequence for whole-brain intracranial vessel wall (IVW) imaging.

Materials and methods

Elliptical k-space sampling and prolonged echo train length (ETL), were used to expedite a 3D variable-flip-angle TSE-based sequence. To compensate for the potential loss in vessel wall signal, optimal combination of prescribed T₂ and ETL was experimentally investigated on 22 healthy volunteers at 3 Tesla. The optimized protocol (7-8 min) was then compared with a previous protocol (reference protocol, 11-12 min) in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), vessel wall sharpness, and wall delineation quality on a 4-

SUBMITTER: Yang Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5519453 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature