Patrick Magrath1,2, Eric Aliotta1,3, Shams Rashid1, Yutaka Natsuaki4, Xiaoming Bi4, Zhe Wang1,2, Kyung Sung1,2,3, Peng Hu1,2,3, Holden Wu1,2,3, and Daniel B Ennis1,2,3
1Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 2Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 3Physics and Biology in Medicine IDP, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 4Siemens Healthcare, Los Angeles, CA, United States
4D-flow MRI is used to quantify
blood flow in a variety of neurovascular pathologies including intracranial
aneurysms [1], but is limited by long scan times as well as moderate spatial
and temporal resolution. Conventional RF pulses have poor slab profiles that
contribute to low sequence efficiency by increasing the field-of-view needed to
avoid aliasing in the slab direction. Our objectives were to design a minimum
time, high Time Bandwith Product (TBW) VERSE pulse for 4D flow and to validate
the improvement in sequence efficiency, confirm flow accuracy, and evaluate
total SAR deposition for VERSE+4D-flow compared to our clinical 4D flow imaging
protocol.
