Ultra-low-field Neck Time-of-flight MRA at 0.05 Tesla: A Preliminary Study

Motivation: The recent resurgence of ultra-low-field MRI (i.e., below 0.1 T) is showing great promise for future clinical applications due to its low cost, portability, and accessibility, potentially advancing neck MRA for evaluating and diagnosing carotid diseases in point-of-care scenarios and low/mid-income countries. Goal(s): To explore the neck MRA using TOF technique at 0.05 Tesla. Approach: Flow-compensated 2D GRE sequences with and without flow saturation for multi-slice neck scans. Results: Carotid arteries/bifurcations and jugular veins can be visualized with strong vessel-to-background contrast. We envision that usable and quality neck MRA can be potentially achieved at ULF with further sequence and/or post-processing optimization. Impact: Ultra-low-field (ULF) neck MRA can potentially advance the evaluation of carotid stenosis and occlusion, as well as the diagnosis of stroke and aneurysms, in point-of-care scenarios and low/mid-income countries.