MRI OF THE CENTRAL CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

磁共振（MR）成像的中央汽车的能力- 离血管系统（即，心脏、大动脉和静脉、小血管 胸腔中的网络）近年来已经从主要的 心腔壁解剖结构的定义和 大血管的生理和血流动力学参数的评价 使用动态成像和血液信号增强（“亮血”） 序列的正常人和老年人中枢心血管系统的评价 然而，使用MR成像的疾病状态仍然有限， 各种心内/血管内血液信号的不均匀性 动态显示的血池，显示复杂的困难 胸腔内大血管系统的分支模式，以及 目前无法提供分辨率、复杂显示和运动 小血管网络成像所需的补偿，例如 冠状动脉系统我们这项研究的主要目标是 通过技术发展克服这些限制， 应用程序. 计划中的技术开发涉及以下工作 （1）减少相位误差;（2）减少流入伪影; (3)减少周期性运动伪影;（4）改善图像质量 分辨率和对比度。高分辨率、高信噪比MR成像 在存在生理性心脏和呼吸运动的情况下寻求。 这些技术的应用涉及以下方面：（5） 动态显示心内血池;（6）静态显示 胸主动脉系统;（7）显示小血管网 尤其是冠状动脉及其分支。这 该项目的临床方面将主要关注 评估我们的技术产生类似图像的能力 相应的血管造影“金标准”。此方面将被 主要使用志愿者对照和患者进行研究。的结果 这一努力将是通过成像来改进检测 没有大范围的中枢心血管疾病， 对疾病的解剖和功能方面的描述得到改善。

The capabilities of Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging of the central car- diovascular system (i.e., heart, great arteries and veins, small vessel networks in the thorax) have been advanced in recent years from primarily a definition of the anatomy of the walls of the cardiac chambers and the large vessels to the evaluation of physiologic and hemodynamic parameters using dynamic imaging and blood-signal-enhancing ("bright blood") sequences. Evaluation of the central cardiovascular system in normal and diseased states using MR imaging, however, remains limited due to nonuniformity of the blood signal in the various intracardiac/intravascular blood pools on dynamic display, difficulties with displaying the complex branching patterns of the large vasculature systems in the thorax, and present inability to provide the resolution, complex display, and motion compensation required for imaging small vessel networks, such as the coronary artery system. Our primary goal in this proposed research is to overcome these limitations by means of technical development and application. Technical development which is planned involves work in the following areas: (1) reduction of phase errors; (2) reduction of in-flow artifact; (3) reduction of periodic motion artifact; and (4) improvement of image resolution and contrast. High resolution, high signal-to-noise MR imaging in the presence of physiologic cardiac and respiratory motion is sought. The application of these techniques is concerned with the following: (5) dynamic display of intracardiac blood pools; (6) static display of the major thoracic arterial systems; and (7) display of small vessel networks in the thorax, especially the coronary arteries and their branches. This clinical aspect of the project will be concerned primarily with the assessment of the capability of our techniques to produce images resembling the corresponding angiographic "gold standards". This aspect will be pursued primarily using volunteer controls and patients. The outcome of this effort would be the improved detection with imaging of the presence or absence of a large range of central cardiovascular diseases, and the improved description of the anatomic and functional aspects of the disease.