Correction of venous contamination in time-of-flight MR angiography by using magnetic susceptibility maps

Extracting 3D digital vascular tree models from 3D angiographic data sets allows quantitative characterization of the vasculature. To obtain 3D vascular tree models for the arterial and venous system, respectively, exact discrimination between arteries and veins is required as well as precise registration of both vessel systems. We present first results of a new approach to correct contamination of venous vessels in time-of-flight (ToF) MR angiographic images by utilizing magnetic susceptibility differences of veins to the surrounding tissue on simultaneously acquired ToF and susceptibility weighted imaging data.