Continuously Moving Table Vessel Scout Imaging using Variable Flip Angles & Autocorrelation Analysis

Sandra Baumann¹, Michael Markl¹, Ute Ludwig¹

The planning of bolus chase MR angiography (MRA) can be supported by the application of a vessel scout. Recently, the concept of a time-of-flight (TOF) vessel scout was presented which is based on the continuously moving table (CMT) acquisition and post processing of projection data. This study presents new acquisition and data processing strategies for CMT TOF vessel scout imaging which allow for improved vessel background contrast. A variable flip angle scheme was implemented to compensate for signal saturation caused by the repeated rf-excitation. Vessel contrast in scout images could further be increased by an autocorrelation analysis of acquired data.