Verification of TOF-MRA Signals of Abnormally High Intensity by an Angiostenosis Model

Abstract

In order to elucidate signals of abnormally high intensity which appear in angiostenotic loci in MRA by the TOF method, experiments were conducted using a phantom simulating angiostenosis. The signals of abnormally high intensity became more prominent with increased rate of stenosis, flow rate and TE. Due to the effects of flow acceleration in the stenotic loci, characteristic shapes were presented by these signals of abnormally high intensity. In experiments with the phantom tilted at 45 degrees, after replacement of the coordinate axes signals of abnormally high intensity appeared on the symmetric side of the long axis of the phantom. The signals of abnormally high intensity generated in the angiostenotic phantom are slice-encoding misregistration artifacts.