Human abdominal aorta: comparative measurements of blood flow with MR imaging and multigated Doppler US

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has proved to be a new alternative method for the noninvasive detection and quantification of blood flow in human vessels. By means of standard gradient echo sequences triggered with electrocardiography on a 1.5-T whole-body imaging system, the authors measured the flow-induced phase shift in the abdominal aorta of healthy volunteers. The instantaneous two-dimensional velocity profiles and the integrated flow rate were determined in intervals down to 21 msec throughout the cardiac cycle. The results were validated by means of comparative measurements with a multigated Doppler ultrasound instrument. The velocity values acquired with this instrument in one spatial dimension in the anteroposterior direction of the abdominal aorta agreed to a great extent with the temporal and spatial corresponding values recorded with MR imaging. The same high correlation between the two methods was found for the calculated instantaneous total blood flow.