Feasibility of Dynamic Contrast-free Vascular Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting

Abstract

Vascular magnetic resonance fingerprinting (vMRF) using both magnitude and phase information can achieve reasonable vascular parameter maps of the brain without contrast agents. This approach combined with a rapid, multi-echo pulse sequence enables dynamic vascular function mapping of brain physiology. Here we begin to investigate the feasibility and tradeoffs of performing vMRF with only 5 echoes and a temporal resolution of 5 seconds. Initial findings indicate that reasonable fingerprint matching can be done with only 5 echoes and that the proposed sequence has adequate signal-to-noise ratio for reliable results.