Pulsatile blood velocity in human arteries displayed by magnetic resonance imaging

The authors describe a new method for magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of flowing protons which can illustrate relative blood velocity in the arteries supplying the brain. The magnetic gradient pulse sequence was synchronized to the cardiac cycle at 100-msec. increments to track pulsatile blood flow perpendicular to the image plane. The magnitude of the signal increased with the velocity of blood in major arteries flowing in the direction of the spatially offset refocusing plane. The blood velocity in the vertebral and internal carotid arteries varied as a function of the phase of the cardiac cycle, and the velocity profiles across the vascular lumina were compatible with laminar flow.