MR Flow Imaging Beyond the Mean Velocity: Estimation of the Skew & Kurtosis of Intravoxel Velocity Distributions

Petter Dyverfeldt^1,2, Andreas Sigfridsson¹, Hans Knutsson¹, Tino Ebbers¹

MR flow imaging has proved to be a valuable tool in improving the understanding and diagnostics of cardiovascular disease. The most common MR flow imaging method is phase-contrast velocity mapping, which estimates the mean velocity of a voxel. However, MR may permit more advances flow analysis. This study goes beyond the mean velocity of a voxel and evaluates the potential of MRI for the quantification of skew and kurtosis of intravoxel velocity distributions. Proof-of-concept is demonstrated based on simulated MR measurements of skew and kurtosis in post-stenotic flow.