Anders Nilsson1, Karin Markenroth Bloch1,2,
Freddy Sthlberg1,3
1Dept. of Medical Radiation
Physics, Lund University, Sweden; 2Clinical Sciences, Philips
Healthcare, Lund, Sweden; 3Dept. of Diagnostic Radiology, Lund
University, Sweden
Conventional implementation of phase contrast sequences determines the velocity encoding sensitivity (Venc) from the maximal velocity in the complete cardiac cycle. In heart phases with slow flow, the Venc is therefore much higher than needed. By optimizing the Venc to the specific area of interest, it has been shown that the noise could be lowered substantially. In this work, we investigate the potential benefits of a 4D phase-contrast sequence with variable velocity encoding throughout the cardiac cycle, with respect to blood flow visualizations.