PURPOSE: To characterize coronary artery motion as a prescan procedure to select the optimum scan setting that will produce high-resolution images. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 2D real-time scan was used to image the major coronary arteries during breath-holding and free-breathing conditions. With the use of the 2D images, motion displacement of each artery was measured along three axes. Motion data obtained from a computer simulation were used to estimate point-spread functions (PSFs) associated with different high-resolution spiral acquisition strategies, including real-time, cardiac-gated, and respiratory-gated acquisitions. The simulation output determined the optimum acquisition and scan parameters that would produce the highest-spatial-resolution images of the coronary arteries. The effects of heart rate (HR), extended breath-holding, and number of slices per heart cycle were also investigated. RESULTS: Substantial variations in coronary motion occur among individuals, which directly influences the optimum parameters for a high-resolution scan. Lower HRs and longer breath-holds yield substantially increased spatial resolution. The maximum number of slices per heart cycle can also be determined to minimize slice-to-slice distortion. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that to obtain high-resolution coronary images, one should perform a prescan coronary-motion characterization for each individual so that the scan parameters can be optimized before data acquisition. Copyright (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
PURPOSE: To characterize coronary artery motion as a prescan procedure to select the optimum scan setting that will produce high-resolution images. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A 2D real-time scan was used to image the major coronary arteries during breath-holding and free-breathing conditions. With the use of the 2D images, motion displacement of each artery was measured along three axes. Motion data obtained from a computer simulation were used to estimate point-spread functions (PSFs) associated with different high-resolution spiral acquisition strategies, including real-time, cardiac-gated, and respiratory-gated acquisitions. The simulation output determined the optimum acquisition and scan parameters that would produce the highest-spatial-resolution images of the coronary arteries. The effects of heart rate (HR), extended breath-holding, and number of slices per heart cycle were also investigated. RESULTS: Substantial variations in coronary motion occur among individuals, which directly influences the optimum parameters for a high-resolution scan. Lower HRs and longer breath-holds yield substantially increased spatial resolution. The maximum number of slices per heart cycle can also be determined to minimize slice-to-slice distortion. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that to obtain high-resolution coronary images, one should perform a prescan coronary-motion characterization for each individual so that the scan parameters can be optimized before data acquisition. Copyright (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Authors: Moritz H Albrecht; Akos Varga-Szemes; U Joseph Schoepf; Georg Apfaltrer; Jiaqian Xu; Kwang-Nam Jin; Anthony M Hlavacek; Shahryar M Chowdhury; Pal Suranyi; Christian Tesche; Carlo N De Cecco; Davide Piccini; Matthias Stuber; Giulia Ginami; Thomas J Vogl; Arni Nutting Journal: Eur Radiol Date: 2017-09-08 Impact factor: 5.315