i-T2Prep: Flow-Independent 3D Whole Heart Vessel Wall Imaging Using an Interleaved T2-Preparation Acquisition

Marcelo E. Andia¹, Markus Henningsson¹, Tarique Hussain¹, Alkystis Phinikaridou¹, Gerald Greil¹, Rene M. Botnar¹

We present a novel technique for flow-independent vessel wall imaging based on the differences in T2-relaxation time of arterial blood and surrounding tissues using a T2prep prepulse. The technique is based on the acquisition and subtraction of two datasets, one obtained with and one without T2prep. The subtraction step allows nulling the signal of arterial blood while maintaining signal of muscle and vessel wall. In order to minimize the motion sensitivity we developed an interleaved acquisition for the T2prep and non-T2prep images, which allows obtaining coronary vessel wall images from a whole heart acquisition with minimal misregistration artefacts.