# Non-Contrast-Enhanced Velocity-Selective MR Angiography at 3T for Cerebrovascular Diseases

> **NIH NIH R01** · HUGO W. MOSER RES INST KENNEDY KRIEGER · 2020 · $404,000

## Abstract

Project Abstract
Cerebrovascular diseases, as one of the leading causes of death and disability in all societies, impose enormous
social-economic burden worldwide. Cerebral angiography plays an indispensable role in differential diagnosis,
prognosis outlook, therapeutic management, and follow-up after treatment for patients with neurological
vasopathology, such as stroke, arterial stenosis,
cerebral venous sinus thrombosis
, arteriovenous malformation,
and aneurysm. Traditionally, catheter-based X-ray angiography has been considered the gold standard for
cerebrovascular assessment. Contrast-enhanced (CE) MRA allows large spatial coverage, high spatial
resolution, and rapid acquisition. However, arterial visualization are often obscured by venous enhancement. In
addition, the safety of Gd based CE MRA has been challenged for the concerns of developing Nephrogenic
Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) for patients with impaired kidney function and the reports of
Gd deposition in the brain
even when no kidney disease is present
. Thus non-contrast-enhanced MR angiography (NCE MRA) has rapidly
evolved to minimize risk and lower cost. The primary NCE cerebral MRA in clinical practice is the 3D time-of-
flight (TOF) method, which is known to have limited angiographic coverage and poor delineation of slow flow.
Newly developed arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRA can provide either large spatial coverage or 4D time-resolved
MRA with dynamic filling of arteries. The drawback of the ASL methods are the reduced signal efficiency,
lengthened scan times due to the required two acquisitions for subtraction of labeled and unlabeled blood signal,
and sensitivity to motion-induced misregistration. We recently demonstrated feasibility of a novel velocity-
selective (VS) MRA approach for cerebral applications at 3T, which is a non-subtractive technique and allows
large coverage and slow-flow depiction. Aiming to incorporate favorable aspects of both TOF and ASL MRA
methods, we propose numerous technical advances for VS MRA to render 3D arteriography, venography and
4D time-resolved MRA. The purpose of this study is
first to further develop these VS cerebral MRA techniques
in flow phantoms and healthy subjects (Aim 1), then to evaluate the 3D VS MR arteriography in patients with
carotid or intracranial stenosis (Aim 2) and the 3D VS MR venography in patients with cerebral venous sinus
thrombosis (Aim 3), and finally to evaluate the 4D time-resolved VS-MRA in patients with AVM or aneurysm
(Aim 4).
The proposed NCE VS MRA techniques are expected to show clinical values not only for the brain, but
also for the rest of the body, and especially benefit
children, pregnant women, and patients with diabetes or
impaired kidney function
.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9851436
- **Project number:** 5R01HL138182-03
- **Recipient organization:** HUGO W. MOSER RES INST KENNEDY KRIEGER
- **Principal Investigator:** Qin Qin
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $404,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-12-15 → 2022-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9851436

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9851436, Non-Contrast-Enhanced Velocity-Selective MR Angiography at 3T for Cerebrovascular Diseases (5R01HL138182-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9851436. Licensed CC0.

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