Peripheral vessel scout imaging based on continuously moving table acquisition of projection data.

A fast and spatially seamless peripheral vessel scout is desirable for subsequent planning of magnetic resonance (MR) angiography. We implemented a continuously moving table sequence providing projection data with time-of-flight contrast of the entire lower extremities in less than 2 minutes. Variation of arterial signal during the cardiac cycle and autocorrelation were exploited to enhance vessel-to-background contrast. Subjective image analysis revealed excellent vessel depiction, indicating that the proposed scout allows for seamless expedited visualization of major arterial structures.