Fig. 9
Plaque components in diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) with confirmation of plaque constituents by voxel guided CMRS in the pathologic 1% cholesterol diet + injury rabbit. A Lipids in the vessel wall remain hyperintense at a high B-value, while normal vessel wall constituents become attenuated. The overlay image compares B = 0 (no diffusion weighting, displayed in blue) with a semi-transparent overlay of B = 4000 s/mm2 (displayed in yellow). The black background is due to placing the aorta in CMR signal-inert fomblin liquid. B Comparison of confirmed plaque regions, normal vessel wall, and free water by normalized signal loss at increasing diffusion-weighted B-values. DWI was applied to vessel wall regions with multiple B-values (increments of 500 s/mm2), where increasing B-values are proportional to increased diffusion times. C The presence of CE was confirmed by CMRS in diseased and normal aorta regions. Lipid peaks were not detected in the normal vessel wall area (only water), while multiple lipid peaks were observed in the plaque region with a resonance profile confirming CE