Pressure Gradient Estimation from PC-MRI: Acceleration Versus Velocity Encoding

Jelena Bock¹, Felix Staehle¹, Ramona Lorenz¹, Kevin Michael Johnson², Juergen Hennig¹, Michael Markl¹

MRI can be used to estimate blood pressure gradients non-invasively by solving the Navier-Stokes equation. Most applications use velocity encoded MRI data to calculate pressure gradients by deriving local acceleration based on spatial and temporal derivates of the measured velocities. To minimize noise propagation errors, acceleration encoded MRI can be used to directly measure flow acceleration. In this study in-vitro and in-vivo data were used to systematically evaluate the performance of acceleration and velocity encoding PC-MRI for pressure gradient estimation. Results indicate that data derived from acceleration encoded MRI are less noisy and may provide more reliable pressure difference estimation.