A Dual-VENC Four-Dimensional Flow MRI Framework for Analysis of Subject-Specific Heterogeneous Nonlinear Vessel Deformation

Advancement of subject-specific in silico medicine requires new imaging protocols tailored to specific anatomical features, paired with new constitutive model development based on structure/function relationships. In this study, we develop a new dual-velocity encoding coefficient (VENC) 4D flow MRI protocol that provides unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution of in vivo aortic deformation. All previous dual-VENC 4D flow MRI studies in the literature focus on an isolated segment of the aorta, which fail to capture the full spectrum of aortic heterogeneity that exists along the vessel length. The imaging protocol developed provides high sensitivity to all blood flow velocities throughout the entire cardiac cycle, overcoming the challenge of accurately measuring the highly unsteady nonuniform flow field in the aorta. Cross-sectional area change, volumetric flow rate, and compliance are observed to decrease with distance from the heart, while pulse wave velocity (PWV) is observed to increase. A nonlinear aortic lumen pressure–area relationship is observed throughout the aorta such that a high vessel compliance occurs during diastole, and a low vessel compliance occurs during systole. This suggests that a single value of compliance may not accurately represent vessel behavior during a cardiac cycle in vivo. This high-resolution MRI data provide key information on the spatial variation in nonlinear aortic compliance, which can significantly advance the state-of-the-art of in-silico diagnostic techniques for the human aorta.