Fluoroscopic triggering is a method (see automatic bolus detection) used to time the start of a contrast enhanced dynamic or MRA sequence. After the bolus injection of a contrast medium, the bolus can be tracked with a real time sequence. The operator starts the sequence, when the contrast is visual identified on the monitor.

Quick Overview

Movement of the heart causes blurring and ghosting in the images. The artifacts appear in the phase encoding direction, independent of the direction of the motion.

These artifacts can be reduced by using cardiac synchronization: triggering, gating or retrospective triggering. Maximum reduction can be achieved by using triggering in combination with flow compensation, respiratory triggering or breath hold and regional saturation techniques.

See also Motion Artifact.

Automatic bolus detection is used to trigger the begin of the MRI scan with the time the contrast agent reaches the region of interest. The acquisition process is started once the signal is increased in this region. There are similar methods used by the scanner manufacturer (see MRI Acronyms for Automatic Bolus Detection). After injection of the contrast agent the region of interest is monitored (e.g. with a spin echo or gradient echo sequence). When the signal increases the scan is automatically triggered or the operator is informed.

See also Abdominal Imaging, Bolus Injection, Fluoroscopic Triggering, Care Bolus, and Bolus Tracking.

This method synchronize the heartbeat with the beginning of the TR, whereat the r wave is used as the trigger. Cardiac gating times the acquisition of MR data to physiological motion in order to minimize motion artifacts. ECG gating techniques are useful whenever data acquisition is too slow to occur during a short fraction of the cardiac cycle.
Image blurring due to cardiac-induced motion occurs for imaging times of above approximately 50 ms in systole, while for imaging during diastole the critical time is of the order of 200-300 ms. The acquisition of an entire image in this time is only possible with using ultrafast MR imaging techniques. If a series of images using cardiac gating or real-time echo planar imaging EPI are acquired over the entire cardiac cycle, pixel-wise velocity and vascular flow can be obtained.
In simple cardiac gating, a single image line is acquired in each cardiac cycle. Lines for multiple images can then be acquired successively in consecutive gate intervals. By using the standard multiple slice imaging and a spin echo pulse sequence, a number of slices at different anatomical levels is obtained. The repetition time (TR) during a ECG-gated acquisition equals the RR interval, and the RR interval defines the minimum possible repetition time (TR). If longer TRs are required, multiple integers of the RR interval can be selected. When using a gradient echo pulse sequence, multiple phases of a single anatomical level or multiple slices at different anatomical levels can be acquired over the cardiac cycle.
Also called cardiac triggering.

Quick Overview

Pulsatile cerebro spinal fluid flow produces ghost artifacts that are superimposed in the image.

Flow compensation should be used to reduce these artifacts. This applies an additional gradient to eliminate phase differences for both stationary and moving spins at the echo time. At TE no phase differences is measured. If flow compensation is applied and there are still flow artifacts, cardiac triggering is an additional option to reduce these artifacts.
See also Motion Artifact.