Abstract

To develop a new sequence for non-contrast-enhanced peripheral angiography using a sliding interleaved cylinder (SLINCYL) acquisition.A venous saturation pulse was incorporated into a three-dimensional magnetization-prepared balanced steady-state free precession sequence for non-contrast-enhanced peripheral angiography to improve artery-vein contrast. The SLINCYL acquisition, which consists of a series of overlapped thin slabs for volumetric coverage similar to the original sliding interleaved ky (SLINKY) acquisition, was used to evenly distribute the venous-suppression effects over the field of view. In addition, the thin-slab-scan nature of SLINCYL and the centric-ordered sampling geometry of its readout trajectory were exploited to implement efficient fluid-suppression and parallel imaging schemes. The sequence was tested in healthy subjects and a patient.Compared to a multiple overlapped thin slab acquisition, both SLINKY and SLINCYL suppressed the venetian blind artifacts and provided similar artery-vein contrast. However, SLINCYL achieved this with shorter scan times and less noticeable artifacts from k-space amplitude modulation than SLINKY. The fluid-suppression and parallel imaging schemes were also validated. A patient study using the SLINCYL-based sequence well identified stenoses at the superficial femoral arteries, which were also confirmed with digital subtraction angiography.Non-contrast-enhanced angiography using SLINCYL can provide angiograms with improved artery-vein contrast in the lower extremities. Magn Reson Med 74:727-738, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

View details for DOI 10.1002/mrm.25452

View details for Web of Science ID 000360222900014

View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4362915