Efficient 3D cone trajectory design for improved combined angiographic and perfusion imaging using arterial spin labeling

Abstract Purpose To improve the spatial resolution and repeatability of a non‐contrast MRI technique for simultaneous time resolved 3D angiography and perfusion imaging by developing an efficient 3D cone trajectory design. Methods A novel parameterized 3D cone trajectory design incorporating the 3D golden angle was integrated into 4D combined angiography and perfusion using radial imaging and arterial spin labeling (CAPRIA) to achieve higher spatial resolution and sampling efficiency for both dynamic angiography and perfusion imaging with flexible spatiotemporal resolution. Numerical simulations and physical phantom scanning were used to optimize the cone design. Eight healthy volunteers were scanned to compare the original radial trajectory in 4D CAPRIA with our newly designed cone trajectory. A locally low rank reconstruction method was used to leverage the complementary k‐space sampling across time. Results The improved sampling in the periphery of k‐space obtained with the optimized 3D cone trajectory resulted in improved spatial resolution compared with the radial trajectory in phantom scans. Improved vessel sharpness and perfusion visualization were also achieved in vivo. Less dephasing was observed in the angiograms because of the short TE of our cone trajectory and the improved k‐space sampling efficiency also resulted in higher repeatability compared to the original radial approach. Conclusion The proposed 3D cone trajectory combined with 3D golden angle ordering resulted in improved spatial resolution and image quality for both angiography and perfusion imaging and could potentially benefit other applications that require an efficient sampling scheme with flexible spatial and temporal resolution.