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Minimizing contrast agent dose during intraarterial gadolinium-enhanced MR angiography: in vitro assessment
Ken-Pin Hwang1, Jordin D Green, Debiao Li
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
Purpose:
To minimize contrast agent dosage for intra-arterial (IA) contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) by examining the effects of encoding order (elliptical vs. sequential) and injection duration (100% to 30% of the acquisition time).
Materials And Methods:
Catheter-based IA gadolinium (Gd) injections were performed in an arterial flow phantom. Blood flow rates, injection rates, and injection durations were systematically varied. Signal-to-noise (SNR) measurements were obtained in the aorta, renal artery, and common iliac artery.
Results:
No significant SNR losses were observed for any of the vessels with 75% injection duration, or for the aorta and iliac artery with 50% injection duration. Excellent images of all vessels were obtained at 50% injection duration. There was no significant SNR difference between encoding schemes.
Conclusion:
Contrast agent dosage can be substantially reduced without loss of SNR by limiting injection to part of the imaging acquisition time.
Insights
Reducing contrast agent dosage for intra-arterial contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) is possible. Significant signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is maintained even with reduced injection durations.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Intra-arterial (IA) contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) requires precise contrast agent administration.
- Optimizing contrast agent dosage is crucial for patient safety and cost-effectiveness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate methods for minimizing contrast agent dosage in IA CE-MRA.
- To evaluate the impact of encoding order and injection duration on image quality and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Main Methods:
- Utilized a catheter-based IA gadolinium injection in an arterial flow phantom.
- Systematically varied blood flow rates, injection rates, and injection durations (100% to 30% of acquisition time).
- Measured SNR in the aorta, renal artery, and common iliac artery.
Main Results:
- No significant SNR loss was observed with 75% injection duration for all tested vessels.
- Excellent image quality was achieved with 50% injection duration in all vessels.
- No significant difference in SNR was found between elliptical and sequential encoding schemes.
Conclusions:
- Contrast agent dosage for IA CE-MRA can be substantially reduced.
- Limiting contrast injection to a portion of the acquisition time maintains diagnostic SNR.
- Encoding order does not significantly impact SNR in this setting.