Carotid Pulse Wave Velocity Quantification with Non-Gated, Velocity-Encoded Projections

Zachary Rodgers¹, Erin K. Englund¹, Michael C. Langham¹, Jeremy F. Magland¹, Felix Wehrli¹

Carotid pulse wave velocity (cPWV) was quantified by combining a dual-slice excitation phase-modulated sinc pulse with velocity-encoded projections to resolve flow waveforms in the inferior and superior carotid artery at 5 ms temporal resolution. This approach does not require gating and can quantify cPWV in just seconds. cPWV was measured in three young healthy males four times each. Overall mean (SD) cPWV and path length were 6.2 (1.9) m/s and 12.4 (2.2) cm respectively. Future work will focus on improving waveform post-processing and determining the utility of cPWV as an early marker of vascular changes leading to carotid atherosclerosis.