Projective MRI angiography and quantitative flow-volume densitometry

Abstract

Projective MR images of vascular anatomy and flow are performed at 0.14 T by using phase contrast to suppress the signal contribution of the stationary background. The source of the contrast is the distinctive phase evolution of moving protons under the influence of the read-out gradient of a conventional two-dimensional Fourier transform (2D FT) spin-echo pulse sequence. By using short echo times, small phase shifts may be obtained. When phase shifts are less than about 45 degrees, the phase contrast assumes a simple and useful form. The flow image intensity at any pixel becomes proportional to the net flux or flow volume of protons which cross the corresponding voxel. This proportionality is demonstrated in images of flow phantoms as is the reproducibility of measured flow volume under a variety of transformations of imaging conditions and of the subject. Projective images gated in vivo produce angiographic views of arteries and veins, in systole and diastole, in the neck of a dog and in the lower extremities of a human subject.