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Abstract #0425

B1 Inhomogeneity in the Thigh at 3T and Implications for Peripheral Vascular Imaging

Pippa Storey1, Vivian S. Lee1, Daniel K. Sodickson1, Davide Santoro1, Bei Zhang1, Ruth P. Lim1, Iliyana P. Atanasova1, David R. Stoffel1, Qun Chen1, Graham C. Wiggins1

1NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY , USA


Signal loss in the proximal right femoral artery is evident to some degree on contrast-enhanced MR angiograms, and to a greater extent on non-contrast MRA. Using 3D B1 mapping and RF field simulations, we show that the B1 profile exhibits a rotational symmetry in the thighs, with minima on the anterior medial side of the right leg, and the posterior medial side of the left leg. The fact that the proximal right femoral artery coincides with a B1 minimum explains the signal loss. We investigate the use of dielectric pads and a coupling coil to mitigate the problem.