Sagittal fresh blood imaging with interleaved acquisition of systolic and diastolic data for improved robustness to motion.

Purpose: To improve robustness to patient motion of "fresh blood imaging" (FBI) for lower extremity noncontrast MR angiography.

Methods: In FBI, two sets of three-dimensional fast spin echo images are acquired at different cardiac phases and subtracted to generate bright-blood angiograms. Routinely performed with a single coronal slab and sequential acquisition of systolic and diastolic data, FBI is prone to subtraction errors due to patient motion. In this preliminary feasibility study, FBI was implemented with two sagittal imaging slabs, and the systolic and diastolic acquisitions were interleaved to minimize sensitivity to motion. The proposed technique was evaluated in volunteers and patients.

Results: In 10 volunteers, imaged while performing controlled movements, interleaved FBI demonstrated better tolerance to subject motion than sequential FBI. In one patient with peripheral arterial disease, interleaved FBI offered better depiction of collateral flow by reducing sensitivity to inadvertent motion.

Conclusions: FBI with interleaved acquisition of diastolic and systolic data in two sagittal imaging slabs offers improved tolerance to patient motion.