[Imaging characteristics of two-dimensional spin echo T₁-weighted image in carotid artery plaque]

Recently, T₁ weighted image (T₁WI) has proven to be useful for diagnosing carotid plaque. This time, the image parameter of two-dimensional spin echo (2D SE) T₁WI was examined. Phantoms that imitated muscle and carotid plaque were made. Signal noise ratio (SNR) and the contrast of phantoms were examined when the flip angle (FA) of radio frequency (RF) pulse, repetition time (TR), and echo train length (ETL) was changed. A visual evaluation was done in a clinical case. Both SE and fast spin echo (FSE) SNR improved according to the extension of TR, and the contrast decreased. Moreover, the contrast improved when there was a lot of ETL and the FA of RF pulse. It is thought that this is because SNR and the contrast depend on the interrelation of TR, T₁ value, and the FA of RF pulse. When the FA of RF pulse was set to 70 degrees and the TR was set to 400 ms resulting from the phantom experiment, clinical cases obtained great results. This examination confirmed the utility of 2D SE in carotid plaque inspection.