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Abstract #1218

Optimization of Venous Saturation Pulses for Time-Of-Flight MR Angiography at 7 Tesla

Sren Johst1, 2, Karsten H. Wrede1, 3, Mark E. Ladd1, 2, Stefan Maderwald1

1Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; 2Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Hospital Essen, Germany; 3University Hospital Essen, Department of Neurosurgery, Germany


The visibility of the vasculature in TOF MRA highly profits from increased field strengths. The aim of this study was to create a clinical high-resolution 7T TOF MRA protocol with venous saturation, acquirable within a clinically acceptable measurement time. To ameliorate SAR restrictions, we used the VERSE algorithm for both excitation and saturation pulses. The use of standard 90 pulses for venous suppression generally leads to longer TR due to SAR limitations. For α Є [15, 35] and TR Є [20 ms, 35 ms], saturation flip angles of αSAT = (α + 15) lead to acceptable venous saturation.