Qi Liu1,
Zhaoyang Fan1, Qi Yang2, E Mark Haacke3,
Debiao Li1
1Departments of Radiology and
Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States; 2Xuanwu
Hospital, Beijing, China; 3Department of Biomedical Engineering,
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States
By
using a gradient-echo sequence with a relatively long echo time with flow
compensation, together with proper post processing to preserve tissue
susceptibility property while removing unwanted phase aliasing, arterial wall
delineation was achieved in SWI phase images. To further enhance the
lumen-wall contrast in phase images, we hypothesized that by injecting
contrast agent which is known to alter blood susceptibility, more pronounced
lumen-wall contrast could be obtained. Our contrast-enhanced SWI study on
volunteers has confirmed the above hypothesis and observed substantial
increase in lumen-wall phase contrast.