ELECTRONIC POSTER - ismrm

with potential for improving diagnostic accuracy. Mild artefacts are seen in 50% of both techniques. No significant differences noted
in detection of stenosis or thrombosis.
14:30 3774. Group-Encoded Ungated Inversion Nulling for Non-Contrast Enhancement in the
Steady State (GUINNESS): A Balanced SSFP-Dixon Technique for Breath-Held Non-
Contrast MRA
Manojkumar Saranathan 1 , Ersin Bayram 2 , James F. Glockner 3
1 Applied Science Lab, GE Healthcare, Rochester, MN, United States; 2 GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, United
States; 3 Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
While contrast-enhanced MR Angiography (CEMRA) is widely used for evaluation of vascular pathology, recent nephrogenic
systemic fibrosis (NSF) concerns following administration of Gadolinium based contrast agents have spurred interest in non-contrast
MRA methods. Balanced steady state free precession (b-SSFP) imaging has shown great promise due to its high SNR and short scan
times. We propose a balanced SSFP-Dixon technique with a novel group-encoded k-space segmentation scheme for breath-held noncontrast
MRA.
15:00 3775. Optimization of Gradient Moment Nulling for Hybrid of Opposite-Contrast MRA
Sequence
Tokunori Kimura 1 , Masato Ikedo 2
1 MRI Systems Development Department, Toshiba Medical Systems , Otawara, Tochigi, Japan; 2 MRI Systems
Development Department, Toshiba Medical Systems, Otawara, Tochigi, Japan
We have proposed a new MR angiography technique named Hybrid of Opposite-Contrast MRA (HOP-MRA) with 3D dual-echo
gradient-echo sequence combining Time-of-Flight (TOF) with a Flow-Sensitive Black-Blood (FSBB) employing flow dephasing
gradients. In this study, for the purpose of decreasing flow-void appeared in major arteries, two types of gradient moment nulling
(GMN) for the TOF part were compared between 1st order full 3-axis GMN and partial 2-axis GMN. We demonstrated that flow-void
artifacts were decreased by using the 2-axis GMN in the TOF part and vessel misregistration due to phase-encode displacement in the
TOF part was minor. The HOP technique is suitable for decreasing both flow-void and PED artifacts in MRA compared to TOF alone.
15:30 3776. Dynamically Changing Field-Of-View in the Comprehensive Neurovascular Exam
Petrice M. Mostardi 1 , Clifton R. Haider 1 , Norbert G. Campeau 1 , John Huston 1 , Stephen
J. Riederer 1
1 Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States
We define a comprehensive neurovascular exam (CNVE) as the high quality imaging of the aortic arch through the intracranial veins.
The goal of this work is to image these territories by dynamically changing (scaling/shifting) the FOV during a contrast-enhanced
acquisition. Volunteer studies were performed with an imaging protocol consisting of: (i) a large FOV, low dose (2 ml) time-resolved
acquisition to provide overall diagnostic information and serve as a timing bolus and (ii) a high spatial resolution contrast-enhanced
exam implementing dynamic change of the FOV to image the carotid arteries and the intracranial venous system.
Tuesday 13:30-15:30 Computer 42
13:30 3777. Direct Imaging and Quantification of Carotid Plaque Calcification (CPC) Using
Ultrashort TE Pulse Sequences
Jiang Du 1 , Jacqueline Corbeil 1 , Richard Znamirowski 1 , Michael Peterson 2 , Niren Angle 3 ,
Graeme Bydder 1 , Andrew Kahn 4
1 Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA, United States; 2 Pathology, University of California, San
Diego, CA, United States; 3 Surgery, University of California, San Diego, CA, United States; 4 Medicine,
University of California, San Diego, CA, United States
Carotid plaque vulnerability is dependent upon its tissue constituents, which may include fibrous tissue, lipid core, intra-plaque plaque
hemorrhage as well as calcification. Clinical MR sequences have been employed to characterize the long T2 plaque components.
Carotid plaque calcification (CPC) is undetectable with conventional clinical MR sequences. Here we describe the use of a 2D
ultrashort TE (UTE) sequence combined with efficient long T2 suppression to image and characterize CPC (T2, T2* and water
content) using a clinical 3T scanner. High spatial resolution micro-CT images were also acquired for comparison and validation.
14:00 3778. A New PVA-Based Dynamic Cardiac Phantom for Evaluation of Functional MR
Imaging Methods at 3T
Robert Manzke 1 , Anja Lutz 2 , Marcel Schenderlein 3 , Axel Bornstedt 2 , Raymond C. Chan 4 ,
Klaus Dietmeyer 3 , Volker Rasche 5
1 Tomographic Imaging, Philips Research Europe, Hamburg, Germany; 2 Dept. of Internal Medicine II,
University Hospital Ulm, Germany; 3 Inst. Measurement, Control, and Microtechnology, University Ulm,
Germany; 4 Philips Research North America, Briarcliff Manor, NY, United States; 5 Dept. of Internal Medicine
II, University Hospital Ulm, Germany
A new PVA-based dynamic cardiac MR phantom is introduced, aiming to enable cross validation of novel tagged and phase contrast
MR methods specifically at 3T, aiding the development of clinically relevant functional MR techniques. Examples of phase contrast
and tagged images using a 3T system with a 6 element cardiac coil are given.