Acceleration Dependent Vascular Anatomy for Non-Contrast-Enhanced MRA (ADVANCE-MRA)

Andew Nicholas Priest¹, Martin J. Graves¹, David J. Lomas¹

Recently demonstrated methods for non-contrast enhanced MR angiography use velocity-sensitised preparation to suppress the signal from flowing blood. Arterial images are generated by subtraction of bright- and dark-blood images, acquired with and without flow suppression. However, discrimination between arteries and veins is inadequate to allow reliable depiction of arteries without venous contamination. An alternative approach, using acceleration-dependent flow suppression, has been implemented, taking advantage of the pulsatility of arterial flow. It is demonstrated to give good arterial depiction with no venous contamination over a wide range of motion suppression gradient amplitudes, without substantial background signals, fluid contamination and other artifacts.