Magnetic resonance imaging the velocity vector components of fluid flow.

Encoding the precession phase angle of proton nuclei for Fourier analysis has produced accurate measurement of fluid velocity vector components by MRI. A pair of identical gradient pulses separated in time by exactly 1/2 TE, are used to linearly encode the phase of flow velocity vector components without changing the phase of stationary nuclei. Two-dimensional Fourier transformation of signals gave velocity density images of laminar flow in angled tubes which were in agreement with the laws of vector addition. These velocity profile images provide a quantitative method for the investigation of fluid dynamics and hemodynamics.