High-permittivity thin dielectric pad improves peripheral non-contrast MRA at 3T

Purpose: Non-contrast magnetic resonance angiography (NC-MRA) is an alternative diagnostic tool for assessment of peripheral vascular disease in patients with impaired kidney function. While peripheral NC-MRA based on subtraction of two turbo-spin-echo acquisitions may benefit from increased signal-to-noise ratio at 3T, it also suffers from signal loss in the right femoral artery due to previously described radially symmetric B1 + inhomogeneities, which, in other parts of the body, have been shown to be minimized using high-permittivity dielectric pads. The purpose of this study was to utilize high-permittivity dielectric padding to reduce NC-MRA signal loss associated with B1 inhomogeneity at 3T.