Makoto Obara1,2, Masatoshi Honda3, Yutaka Imai3, Marc Van Cauteren1, Kagayaki Kuroda2
1Philips Electronics Japan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; 2Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering, Tokai University, Hiratsuka, Kanagawa, Japan; 3Department of Radiology, Tokai University, Isehara, Kanagawa, Japan
Usefulness of a 3D turbo field echo (TFE) sequence with motion sensitized driven equilibrium (3D-MSDE-TFE) optimized for T1W carotid artery wall imaging was assessed in clinical practice. The sequence was compared with a conventional T1W 2D double inversion recovery turbo spin echo (2D-DIR-TSE) in five patients with soft plaque(s). The optimized sequence achieved T1 contrasts equivalent to those of the conventional one, while allowing larger spatial coverage without time penalty. Therefore, the optimized sequence may be appropriate for vessel wall screening.