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Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has proved to be a new alternative method for the noninvasive detection and quantification of blood flow in human vessels. By means of standard gradient echo sequences triggered with electrocardiography on a 1.5-T whole-body imaging system, the authors measured the flow-induced phase shift in the abdominal aorta of healthy volunteers. The instantaneous two-dimensional velocity profiles and the integrated flow rate were determined in intervals down to 21 msec throughout the cardiac cycle. The results were validated by means of comparative measurements with a multigated Doppler ultrasound instrument. The velocity values acquired with this instrument in one spatial dimension in the anteroposterior direction of the abdominal aorta agreed to a great extent with the temporal and spatial corresponding values recorded with MR imaging. The same high correlation between the two methods was found for the calculated instantaneous total blood flow.
Maier et al. (Mon,) studied this question.