Vessel tracking: prospective adjustment of section-selective MR angiographic locations for improved coronary artery visualization over the cardiac cycle.

Abstract

To follow the motion of the coronary artery in magnetic resonance angiography, the authors evaluated vessel tracking, a method for prospective adjustment of the section location as a function of the delay from the cardiac trigger. In 10 volunteers and four patients, this method allowed the vessel to be maintained in the plane of acquisition throughout the cardiac cycle. With a single-phase multisection sequence, vessel-tracking acquisitions had an efficiency of 0.68 +/- 0.04 for both the right and left coronary arteries compared with 0.19 +/- 0.03 for a non-vessel-tracking acquisition (P < .001).