Improved receiver coil arrays for real-time contrast-enhanced MR angiography of the peripheral vasculature

Abstract

Contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA) of the peripheral vasculature is particularly challenging because of the need to image multiple limited fields of view or “stations” within an extended region ranging from the renal arteries to the feet. It is desirable to image each station with high spatial resolution, requiring adequately long acquisition time, while also advancing the patient table from one station to the next in synchrony with the advancing contrast bolus, generally necessitating a short acquisition time at each station. To address these competing needs, parallel acquisition methods have been developed which increase the speed with which high spatial resolution images can be formed. However, this method requires receiver coil arrays which are matched to the fields of view and which are mathematically robust to parallel acquisition reconstruction. The purpose of this work is to describe receiver coil arrays which provide the desired performance.