Abstract #3339

Optimization of the First-Order Gradient Moment for Flow-Sensitive Dephasing Magnetization-Prepared 3D Noncontrast MRA

Zhaoyang Fan^1,2, Xiangzhi Zhou², Xiaoming Bi³, Sven Zuehlsdorff³, Rohan Dharmakumar^2,4, James Carr², Debiao Li^2,4

¹Cedars-Sinai Medical Center , Los Angeles, CA, United States; ²Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States; ³Siemens Healthcare, Chicago, IL, United States; ⁴Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Flow sensitization imparted by the flow-sensitive dephasing (FSD) preparation is essential for FSD-prepared noncontrast MRA, and its strength can be measured by the first-order gradient moment, m1. Incomplete delineation of arterial segments may result from a suboptimal m1. The optimal m1, however, is subject and artery specific. The aim of this work was to systematically investigate the utility of a 2D m1-scouting method for improving imaging quality of 3D FSD MRA. From 10 healthy subjects and 1 patient, significant increases in artery SNR and artery-vein CNR on MRAs were obtained using this optimization procedure, which potentially help enhance diagnostic confidence.