Claudia Calcagno1,2, Bram Coolen3, Bei Zhang1,2, Gilles Boeykens 3, Philip Robson1,2, Venkatesh Mani1,2, Aart J Nederveen3, Willem Mulder1,2, and Zahi Fayad1,2
1Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, 2Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States, 3Department of Radiology, Academisch Medisch Centrum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Accurate morphological
measurements and classification of carotid plaques require imaging with high
spatial resolution, and may benefit from the increased signal intrinsically
available on ultra-high field (7T) magnets. Several studies have already investigated
carotid vessel wall imaging at 7T and compared it with state-of-the-art 3T
protocols. These initial investigations have focused on 2
dimensional (2D), multi-slice imaging. Better than this approach, 3 dimensional
(3D) vessel wall imaging allows characterizing extensive vascular territories while
minimizing partial volume artifacts in plaque-prone regions, such as the
carotid bulb and bifurcation. Here, we demonstrated the feasibility of performing 3D carotid vessel wall imaging on a whole body 7T clinical magnet
using a custom made carotid coil.
