Flow Saturation Inversion Recovery Non-Contrast-Agent MR Angiography for Lower Extremity

Mitsuharu Miyoshi¹, Naoyoki Takei¹, Tetsuji Tsukamoto¹

For arterial/venous separation, Non-Contrast-Agent MR Angiography (NCA-MRA) often uses image subtraction, which is sensitive to patient motion. In this paper, Flow Saturation Inversion Recovery (FS-IR) pulse is used to eliminate subtraction. Three volunteer images of popliteal artery and trifurcation were compared between subtraction method and FS-IR. Signal intensity and scanning time of FS-IR is 66% and 89% of subtraction method, respectively. Large arteries were depicted in both methods. However, small arteries were depicted well in subtraction method because of higher signal intensity. FS-IR method could eliminate subtraction and it was an effective method for NCA-MRA.