Erik J. Offerman1, Ioannis Koktzoglou1, 2, Christopher Glielmi3, Anindya Sen1, Robert R. Edelman1, 4
1Radiology, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, IL, United States; 2Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; 3Siemens Healthcare, Chicago, IL, United States; 4Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
ECG gating is required by most nonenhanced MRA techniques however it is subject to interference from gradient switching and radiofrequency pulses. The presented method avoids ECG gating by prospectively triggering image acquisition using a reference-less phase contrast navigator to detect blood flow acceleration during systole. The method was evaluated in QISS MRA with contrast, CNR, and image quality measurements performed in eight volunteers. Self-gated QISS triggered with 99% accuracy. All measurements found no significant difference between self-gated and ECG-gated QISS MRA (p > 0.05). Image quality with pulse gating was inferior. Self-gated NATIVE SPACE was demonstrated in a single subject.