MRA Mapping Technology Shortens Brain Imaging Time

Time is critical when imaging the brain, as vascular abnormalities can have a profound effect on patients' lives if not diagnosed quickly. To help healthcare facilities diagnose disease with greater accuracy and speed, variable true rate angiography with combined encodings (V-TRACE) technology streamlines magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) brain imaging by acquiring four image contrasts in one sequence, providing an imaging application for visualizing slow and fast flow vessels separately and together, as well as the brain tissue surrounding the vessels.

Toshiba Medical Systems (Tokyo, Japan) has introduced V-TRACE, as an exclusive MRA sequence available on all Vantage Titan and Vantage Atlas MR systems. "The ability of Toshiba's V-TRACE MRA sequence to image four contrasts in one sequence allows for greater visualization of blood vessels in the brain, particularly collateral vessels that can be difficult to see with standard MRA sequences,” said Doug Ryan, vice president, marketing and strategic development, Toshiba. "This new sequence allows hospitals to improve workflow and patient care by saving time during MRA imaging.”

V-TRACE MRA is a dual-echo three-dimensional (3D) field-echo (FE) sequence in which the first echo is acquired using time-of-flight (TOF) and the second echo is acquired using flow-sensitive black blood (FSBB). The sequence combines the advantages of both techniques to produce MRA images that depict blood vessels with both high and low velocity. The sequence design reduces the specific absorption rate (SAR), which is a measurement of heat generated to the body during a MRI. Moreover, the TOF data can be used to evaluate the brain parenchyma. The images produced by the V-TRACE sequence improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis.

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Toshiba Medical Systems