Navigator-Gated Quiescent Interval Single Shot for Pelvic MR Angiography

Christopher Glielmi¹, Xiaoming Bi¹, Ioannis Koktzoglou², Philip Hodnett³, Sven Zuehlsdorff¹, Robert R. Edelman²

Quiescent Interval Single Shot (QISS) is a promising new method for non-contrast magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) with high diagnostic potential. However, respiratory motion can cause stair-step artifacts in some regions including the iliac arteries. In this study, we present navigator-gated QISS which gates the data acquisition based on diaphragm position to minimize respiratory artifacts. Our approach provides image quality consistently comparable to breath-holding with absence of respiratory artifacts seen in standard free breathing approaches. We recommend navigator-gated QISS as a free breathing alternative to breath-holding, further improving the diagnostic quality of QISS.