Nuclear magnetic resonance velocity spectra of pulsatile flow in a rigid tube

Abstract

Velocity spectra can be derived from velocity-encoded nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) images. Velocity spectra are histograms showing the amounts of fluid flowing at different velocities in the sensitive volume of the measurement. Velocity spectra may prove to be useful in characterizing the flow of blood in small vessels, for example, in detecting the presence of stenoses and in evaluating their severity. NMR velocity spectra acquired in vivo are sufficiently complicated that a model system was designed and tested to investigate the velocity spectra of pulsatile flow. This study measured the NMR velocity spectra of pulsatile flow in a rigid tube and compared them to velocity spectra derived from Doppler ultrasound measurements and to velocity spectra inferred from a theoretical model driven by the measured pressure difference function. The experimental results from each technique agree.