Bridgette Webb1, Thomas Widek1, Bernhard Neumayer1, Rudolf Stollberger2, and Thorsten Schwark1,3
1Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Clinical Forensic Imaging, Graz, Austria, 2Institute of Medical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria, 3Institute of Legal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
MRI evaluation of a
post-mortem reperfused cardiovascular system requires a complete filling of
vessels, acceptable contrast/image quality and consideration of temperature influences. Assessment of the temperature dependence of
viscosity, T1 and T2 of candidate perfusates (n=10) found 3 to be suitable for
application in post-mortem MR angiography. Bloch equation simulations were
applied to investigate contrast between these liquids and post-mortem
myocardium at 1, 8.5, 16 and 23°C. For a FLASH sequence, optimal flip angles
were affected by temperature variation and a decrease in contrast (max. 6-12%) was
observed when flip angles optimised for one of the other temperatures were
applied.
