TY - JOUR
T1 - Contrast enhancement in TOF cerebral angiography at 7 T using saturation and MT pulses under SAR constraints
T2 - Impact of verse and sparse pulses
AU - Schmitter, Sebastian
AU - Bock, Michael
AU - Johst, Sören
AU - Auerbach, Edward J
AU - Ugurbil, Kamil
AU - Van de Moortele, Pierre-Francois
PY - 2012/7
Y1 - 2012/7
N2 - Cerebral three-dimensional time of flight (TOF) angiography significantly benefits from ultrahigh fields, mainly due to higher signal-to-noise ratio and to longer T1 relaxation time of static brain tissues; however, specific absorption rate (SAR) significantly increases with B0. Thus, additional radiofrequency pulses commonly used at lower field strengths to improve TOF contrast such as saturation of venous signal and improved background suppression by magnetization transfer typically cannot be used at higher fields. In this work, we aimed at reducing SAR for each radiofrequency pulse category in a TOF sequence. We use the variable-rate selective excitation principle for the slab selective TOF excitation as well as the venous saturation radiofrequency pulses. In addition, magnetization transfer pulses are implemented by sparsely applying the pulses only during acquisition of the central k-space lines to limit their SAR contribution. Image quality, angiographic contrast, and SAR reduction were investigated as a function of variable-rate selective excitation parameters and of the total number of magnetization transfer pulses applied. Based on these results, a TOF protocol was generated that increases the angiographic contrast by more than 50% and reduces subcutaneous fat signal while keeping the resulting SAR within regulatory limits.
AB - Cerebral three-dimensional time of flight (TOF) angiography significantly benefits from ultrahigh fields, mainly due to higher signal-to-noise ratio and to longer T1 relaxation time of static brain tissues; however, specific absorption rate (SAR) significantly increases with B0. Thus, additional radiofrequency pulses commonly used at lower field strengths to improve TOF contrast such as saturation of venous signal and improved background suppression by magnetization transfer typically cannot be used at higher fields. In this work, we aimed at reducing SAR for each radiofrequency pulse category in a TOF sequence. We use the variable-rate selective excitation principle for the slab selective TOF excitation as well as the venous saturation radiofrequency pulses. In addition, magnetization transfer pulses are implemented by sparsely applying the pulses only during acquisition of the central k-space lines to limit their SAR contribution. Image quality, angiographic contrast, and SAR reduction were investigated as a function of variable-rate selective excitation parameters and of the total number of magnetization transfer pulses applied. Based on these results, a TOF protocol was generated that increases the angiographic contrast by more than 50% and reduces subcutaneous fat signal while keeping the resulting SAR within regulatory limits.
KW - MR angiography
KW - Radiofrequency power
KW - Specific absorption rate
KW - Time of flight
KW - Ultrahigh field MRI
KW - Variable-rate selective excitation
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U2 - 10.1002/mrm.23226
DO - 10.1002/mrm.23226
M3 - Article
C2 - 22139829
AN - SCOPUS:84862262302
SN - 0740-3194
VL - 68
SP - 188
EP - 197
JO - Magnetic resonance in medicine
JF - Magnetic resonance in medicine
IS - 1
ER -