The feasibility of a homemade dielectric pad using commercially available ultrasound gel with Gadolinium contrast material to improve B1 homogeneity for non-enhanced peripheral MR angiography

We investigated an effect of homemade dielectric pads with using commercially available ultrasound (US) gel for improvement of B1 inhomogeneity in the peripheral artery examination using non-contrast fresh blood imaging (FBI) at 3T. We designed the two-bottle phantom mimics the iliac-femoral region, where often observed signal loss in peripheral non-contrast MRA due to B1 inhomogeneity. The result of the phantom study using US gel indicated uniform RF penetration in the B1 map. The US-gel pad improved the RF power penetration under the condition of B1 inhomogeneity and superior visualization of the left superficial femoral artery.