Tokunori Kimura1, Masato Ikedo2
1MRI Systems Development Department,
Toshiba Medical Systems , Otawara, Tochigi, Japan; 2MRI Systems
Development Department, Toshiba Medical Systems, Otawara, Tochigi, Japan
We
have proposed a new MR angiography technique named Hybrid of
Opposite-Contrast MRA (HOP-MRA) with 3D dual-echo gradient-echo sequence
combining Time-of-Flight (TOF) with a Flow-Sensitive Black-Blood (FSBB)
employing flow dephasing gradients. In this study, for the purpose of
decreasing flow-void appeared in major arteries, two types of gradient moment
nulling (GMN) for the TOF part were compared between 1st order full 3-axis
GMN and partial 2-axis GMN. We demonstrated that flow-void artifacts were
decreased by using the 2-axis GMN in the TOF part and vessel misregistration
due to phase-encode displacement in the TOF part was minor. The HOP technique
is suitable for decreasing both flow-void and PED artifacts in MRA compared
to TOF alone.
Keywords