Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Coronary Arteries at 3.OT

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The overall objective of the proposed project is to develop, optimize, and validate a high resolution magnetic resonance (MR) imaging protocol to evaluate coronary artery disease noninvasively. The long-term goal is to provide a noninvasive screening test for coronary artery disease. This test could potentially be combined with other hemodynamic, functional, and metabolic studies available from MRI to form a comprehensive examination of coronary artery disease for improved patient care and cost savings. The specific goal of the project is to improve the spatial resolution, speed, and signal intensity of coronary artery images. We will acquire the images on a 3.0-Tesla scanner which can generate images with high signal intensity than conventional 1.5-Tesla systems. We will develop and validate the coronary artery imaging techniques on 3.0T and compare with 1.5T to verify the improved performance. Finally, patients will be studied to determine the capability of the new technique in detecting functionally significant coronary artery stenoses by comparing with conventional x-ray angiography. Positive results from this study will provide the foundation for further technical improvements and clinical validation. The specific aims of the project are: Aim 1: To develop a fast coronary artery angiography protocol on 3.0T capable of acquiring high-resolution images to accurately define vessel lumen size Aim 2: To verify that the developed coronary MRA protocol on 3.0T can accurately depict coronary artery stenoses in pigs; image SNR and accuracy of stenosis detection on 3.0T are better than those on 1.5T Aim 3: To demonstrate that the developed imaging protocol on 3.0T can accurately detect coronary artery disease in patients.