Improved visualization of T1-weighted carotid artery plaque imaging using time-efficient spiral spin-echo DIXON with Compressed SENSE

In MR carotid plaque imaging, black-blood imaging can diagnose plaque components and predict plaque hardness with a high degree of accuracy. In this study, we proposed T1-weighted black-blood carotid plaque images using non-ECG gated time-efficient Spiral spin-echo (SE) with Compressed SENSE (CS-Spiral SE) and compared with conventional ECG-gated DIR-TSE. We have demonstrated that the non-gated CS-Spiral SE could provide improved visualization in carotid plaque imaging with superior contrast to DIR-TSE with sufficient fat and blood signal suppression within a shorter scan time. It has a great potential to help more accurate assessment and characterization of the carotid atherosclerotic plaque.