A Fast and Noise-Robust Method for Computation of Intravascular Pressure Difference Maps from 4D PC-MRI Data

Noninvasive blood flow measurements by 4D flow-sensitive MRI can be used to compute the intravascular distribution of blood pressure. In this work, we present an efficient algorithm for this task, based on the Navier-Stokes equations including zero-divergence condition for the velocity field. Its accuracy and robustness is investigated on two different CFD-based software phantoms. The method has been integrated into research software for analysis of clinical 4D flow measurements, and is tested on six patients with aortic coarctation. The pressure drop across the stenosis is quantified and coincides well with published results from a previously validated solution algorithm.

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