MR imaging of flow with locally high spatial resolution

Locally focused magnetic resonance imaging (LF MRI) allows imaging with var iable spatial resolution within the field of view (FOV), Because LF MRI use s a priori information to provide locally high resolution in regions with r apid spatial variations in intensity (e,g,, blood/tissue interface), it all ows accurate reproduction of intense sharp edges in the specimen without bl urring and truncation artifacts. This study employs LF MRI for 3D imaging o f stationary and pulsatile flow. In the implemented version of LF MRI analy tically defined basis functions are used to determine image intensity in re gions depicted with low or high resolution, It is demonstrated that LF MRI of flow allows a significant (i.e, 3-4 times) reduction in scan time as com pared to conventional FT MRI, It is also shown that LF images of pulsatile flow have a decreased appearance of ghosting artifacts as compared to the i mages reconstructed by using the conventional method. (C) 1999 Elsevier Sci ence Inc.