Fig. 2

Representative image reconstruction of abdominal aorta. Color coded 3D acquisition data with GQI quantification and 2D CMR slices reveal a thicker vessel wall in the atherosclerotic diseased rabbit. Two representative segments cut from the normal and atherosclerotic aorta are shown. The normal vessel wall shows a well-defined vessel wall orientation with no irregular fiber details. The cholesterol (CHOL)-fed vessel wall shows an advanced plaque without rupture in this segment. The 3D longitudinal oblique views on top; axial view of 3D in bottom left; 2D CMR slice on bottom right. The 3D image does not provide an accurate measure of the vessel wall thickness because the wall is not perfectly straight, and the thickness is variable along the lengths of the vessel. The 2D image gives an accurate thickness in a thin axial slice. The color in the figure shows the XYZ fiber orientation of GQI. GQI, generalized Q-space imaging;