Imaging of Intracranial and Extracranial Arterial Atherosclerotic Plaques Using Different Field Strength MRIs

Atherosclerotic stenosis of the carotid and intracranial arteries is one of the leading causes of ischemic cerebrovascular events worldwide. Among these, intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis has an incidence rate of up to 46.6% in patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) in China. The continuous advancement of high-resolution vascular wall imaging (HR-VWI) technology has enabled multi-dimensional imaging of the arterial walls of both intracranial and extracranial vessels. By suppressing intravascular flow, this technique allows clear visualization of the vascular wall morphology and signal characteristics, as well as the identification of plaque composition and assessment of vulnerable plaque features. However, due to the smaller size of intracranial atherosclerotic plaques, the image quality and effectiveness of current 3.0T high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are influenced by hardware and software limitations, as well as imaging parameters, making it difficult to accurately perform qualitative and quantitative analysis of intracranial and extracranial plaques. The advent of ultra-high field 5.0T MRI overcomes the limitations of 3.0T MRI in imaging, significantly improving the signal-to-noise ratio and allowing for clearer visualization of the signal characteristics of the arteria.

NCT Number	NCT06754956
Lead Sponsor	Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital
Conditions	High Resolution Vessel Wall Imaging, Intracranial Atherosclerotic Stenosis, ICAS, Arteriosclerosis
Enrollment	100 participants
Start Date	2025-01-10
Primary Completion	2027-09-23 (estimated)
Study Completion	2027-12-23 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2025-06-29