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Reports of VO2 response differences between normoxia and hypoxia during incremental exercise do not agree. In this study VO2 and VE were obtained from 15-s averages at identical work rates during continuous incremental cycle exercise in 8 subjects under ambient pressure (633 mmHg ≈1,600 m) and during duplicate tests in acute hypobaric hypoxia (455 mmHg ≈4,350 m), ranging from 49 to 100% of VO2 peak in hypoxia and 42-87% of VO2 peak in normoxia. The average VO2 was 96 mL/min (619 mL) lower at 455 mmHg (n.s. P = 0.15) during ramp exercises. Individual response points were better described by polynomial than linear equations (mL/min/W). The VE was greater in hypoxia, with marked individual variation in the differences which correlated significantly and directly with the VO2 difference between 455 mmHg and 633 mmHg (P = 0.002), likely related to work of breathing (Wb). The greater VE at 455 mmHg resulted from a greater breathing frequency. When a subject's hypoxic ventilatory response is high, the extra work of breathing reduces mechanical efficiency (E). Mean ∆E calculated from individual linear slopes was 27.7 and 30.3% at 633 and 455 mmHg, respectively (n.s.). Gross efficiency (GE) calculated from mean VO2 and work rate and correcting for Wb from a VE-VO2 relationship reported previously, gave corresponding values of 20.6 and 21.8 (P = 0.05). Individual variation in VE among individuals overshadows average trends, as also apparent from other reports comparing hypoxia and normoxia during progressive exercise and must be considered in such studies.

The development of a robust method to non-invasively visualize root morphology in natural soils has been hampered by the opaque, physical, and structural properties of soils. In this work we describe a novel technology, low field magnetic resonance imaging (LF-MRI), for imaging energy sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) root morphology and architecture in intact soils. The use of magnetic fields much weaker than those used with traditional MRI experiments reduces the distortion due to magnetic material naturally present in agricultural soils. A laboratory based LF-MRI operating at 47 mT magnetic field strength was evaluated using two sets of soil cores: 1) soil/root cores of Weswood silt loam (Udifluventic Haplustept) and a Belk clay (Entic Hapluderts) from a conventionally tilled field, and 2) soil/root cores from rhizotrons filled with either a Houston Black (Udic Haplusterts) clay or a sandy loam purchased from a turf company. The maximum soil water nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation time T 2 (4 ms) and the typical root water relaxation time T 2 (100 ms) are far enough apart to provide a unique contrast mechanism such that the soil water signal has decayed to the point of no longer being detectable during the data collection time period. 2-D MRI projection images were produced of roots with a diameter range of 1.5-2.0 mm using an image acquisition time of 15 min with a pixel resolution of 1.74 mm in four soil types. Additionally, we demonstrate the use of a data-driven machine learning reconstruction approach, Automated Transform by Manifold Approximation (AUTOMAP) to reconstruct raw data and improve the quality of the final images. The application of AUTOMAP showed a SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) improvement of two fold on average. The use of low field MRI presented here demonstrates the possibility of applying low field MRI through intact soils to root phenotyping and agronomy to aid in understanding of root morphology and the spatial arrangement of roots in situ .

Purpose: To initiate the archive of relaxation-weighted images that may help discriminate between pulmonary pathologies relevant to acute respiratory distress syndrome. MRI has the ability to distinguish pathologies by providing a variety of different contrast mechanisms. Lungs have historically been difficult to image with MRI but image quality is sufficient to begin cataloging the appearance of pathologies in T 1 - and T 2 -weighted images. This study documents T 1 and the use of T 1 contrast with four experimental rat lung pathologies., Methods: Inversion-recovery and spoiled steady state images were made at 1.89 T to measure T 1 and document contrast in rats with atelectasis, lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammation, ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI), and injury from saline lavage. Higher-resolution Ernst-angle images were made to see patterns of lung infiltrations., Results: T 1 -weighted images showed minimal contrast between pathologies, similar to T 1 -weighted images of other soft tissues. Images taken shortly after magnetization inversion and displayed with inverted contrast highlight lung pathologies. Ernst-angle images distinguish the effects of T 1 relaxation and spin density and display distinctive patterns. T 1 for pathologies were: atelectasis, 1.25 ± 0.046 s; inflammation from instillation of lipopolysaccharide, 1.24 ± 0.015 s; VILI, 1.55 ± 0.064 s (p = 0.0022 vs. normal lung); and injury from saline lavage, 1.90±0.080 s (p = 0.0022 vs. normal lung; p = 0.0079 vs. VILI). T 1 of normal lung and erector spinae muscle were 1.25 ± 0.028 s and 1.02 ± 0.027 s, respectively (p = 0.0022)., Conclusions: Traditional T 1 -weighting is subtle. However, images made with inverted magnetization and inverted contrast highlight the pathologies and Ernst-angle images aid in distinguishing pathologies., (© 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Animal models play a critical role in the study of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). One limitation has been the lack of a suitable method for serial assessment of acute lung injury (ALI) in vivo. In this study, we demonstrate the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess ALI in real time in rat models of VILI. Sprague-Dawley rats were untreated or treated with intratracheal lipopolysaccharide or PBS. After 48 h, animals were mechanically ventilated for up to 15 h to induce VILI. Free induction decay (FID)-projection images were made hourly. Image data were collected continuously for 30 min and divided into 13 phases of the ventilatory cycle to make cinematic images. Interleaved measurements of respiratory mechanics were performed using a flexiVent ventilator. The degree of lung infiltration was quantified in serial images throughout the progression or resolution of VILI. MRI detected VILI significantly earlier (3.8 ± 1.6 h) than it was detected by altered lung mechanics (9.5 ± 3.9 h, P = 0.0156). Animals with VILI had a significant increase in the Index of Infiltration (P = 0.0027), and early regional lung infiltrates detected by MRI correlated with edema and inflammatory lung injury on histopathology. We were also able to visualize and quantify regression of VILI in real time upon institution of protective mechanical ventilation. Magnetic resonance lung imaging can be utilized to investigate mechanisms underlying the development and propagation of ALI, and to test the therapeutic effects of new treatments and ventilator strategies on the resolution of ALI., (Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.)

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of creatine (CR) supplementation during cast-immobilization to preserve skeletal muscle total work, power and intramuscular phosphocreatine (PCr) kinetics during dynamic exercise., Methods: Twenty-five active individuals (24 ± 4 years,) performed wrist flexion exercise within a 1.9 Tesla superconducting magnet before and after 1 week of cast-immobilization. An incremental protocol to fatigue and two constant load (CL1 and CL2) exercise bouts were performed. While casted, participants consumed either 20 g day(-1) of CR or a placebo (PLA). (31)P magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used to quantify in vivo intramuscular PCr levels., Results: No significant group × time interaction effects were found for work or power throughout all exercise bouts. Total work was significantly reduced over time in both groups (p = 0.049) during the incremental exercise bout. Work production in CL1 tended (p = 0.073) to attenuate in the CR group, compared to PLA. No changes were observed in CL2. Baseline PCr significantly decreased with casting in PLA (PRE: 26.6 ± 6.3 vs. POST: 22.5 ± 5.6 mM kg(-1) wet muscle, p = 0.003). No change (p = 0.31) was observed in the CR group. Changes in work production were significantly correlated with changes in resting PCr in CR (r = -0.63, p = 0.021) but not PLA (r = -0.36, p = 0.26) group., Conclusions: Results suggest decreases in short-term endurance may be due to alternations of PCr status and/or metabolism. More research is needed to fully determine the efficacy of CR supplementation during short-term immobilization.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Images (MRIs) of the velocity of water droplets and velocity of the suspending gas, hexafluoroethane, are presented for a vertical and horizontal mist pipe flow. In the vertical flow, the upward velocity of the droplets is clearly slower than the upward velocity of the gas. The average droplet size calculated from the average falling velocity in the upward flow is larger than the average droplet size of mist drawn from the top of the pipe measured with a multi-stage aerosol impactor. Vertical flow concentrates larger particles because they have a longer transit time through the pipe. In the horizontal flow there is a gravity-driven circulation with high-velocity mist in the lower portion of the pipe and low-velocity gas in the upper portion. MRI has the advantages that it can image both phases and that it is unperturbed by optical opacity. A drawback is that the droplet phase of mist is difficult to image because of low average spin density and because the signal from water coalesced on the pipe walls is high. To our knowledge these are the first NMR images of mist., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A new method is presented for quantitative mapping of ventilation-to-perfusion ratios (V(A)/Q) in the lung: MRI of the (19)F longitudinal relaxation time (T(1)) of an inert fluorinated gas at thermal polarization. The method takes advantage of the dependence of the (19)F T(1) on the local SF(6) partial pressure, which depends on the local value of V(A)/Q. In contrast to hyperpolarized noble gases, with very long T(1)s, the T(1) of SF(6) in mammal lungs is 0.8-1.3 ms. Thus, rapid signal averaging overcomes the low thermal equilibrium polarization. T(1) imaging of a phantom consisting of four different SF(6)/air mixtures with known T(1) values validates the modified Look-Locker T(1) imaging sequence. To demonstrate the method in vivo, partial obstruction of the left bronchus was attempted in three rats; 3D free induction decay (FID)-projection T(1) images (2 mm isotropic resolution) revealed obstructed ventilation in two of the animals. In those images, approximately 1700 lung voxels contained sufficient SF(6) for analysis and T(1) was determined in each voxel with a standard error of 8-10%. For comparison, independent V(A)/Q images of the same animals were obtained using a previously described SF(6) MRI technique, and good agreement between the two techniques was obtained. Relative to the previous technique the resolution achieved using the T(1) method is lower (for similar V(A)/Q precision and imaging time); however, the T(1) method offers the potential advantages of eliminating the need for image coregistration and allowing patients with impaired lung function to breathe a 70% O(2) gas mixture during the entire imaging procedure.

The NMR 19F spin-lattice relaxation time constant T1 for CF4 gas is dominated by spin-rotation interaction, which is mediated by the molecular collision frequency. When confined to pores of approximately the same size or smaller than the bulk gas mean free path, additional collisions of molecules with the pore walls should substantially change T1. To develop a method for measuring the surface/volume ratio S/V by measuring how T1 changes with confinement, we prepared samples of known S/V from fumed silica of known mass-specific surface area and compressed to varying degrees into cylinders of known volume. We then measured T1 for CF4 in these samples at varying pressures, and developed mathematical models for the change in T1 to fit the data. Even though CF4 has a critical temperature below room temperature, we found that its density in pores was greater than that of the bulk gas and that it was necessary to take this absorption into account. We modeled adsorption in two ways, by assuming that the gas condenses on the pore walls, and by assuming that gas in a region near the wall is denser than the bulk gas because of a simplified attractive potential. Both models suggested the same two-parameter formula, to which we added a third parameter to successfully fit the data and thus achieved a rapid, precise way to measure S/V from the increase in T1 due to confinement in pores.

MR images of laboratory rat lungs that resolve the thin membranes that separate lung lobes are presented. It appears that the capabilities of in vivo small-animal pulmonary MRI may rival those of in vivo small-animal X-ray CT. Free induction decay (FID)-projection imaging was employed with particular attention to the choice of acquisition time. For a given nominal resolution, one obtains optimal point discrimination when the acquisition time T(acq) normalized by the signal decay time constant T(2)(*) is approximately 0.8-0.9, although a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is obtained when this quotient is 1.6. Currently available equipment should be able to even exceed the results presented herein.

Inspired by the challenge of determining the nature of cracks on the ankles of Michelangelo's statue David, we discovered that one can image SF(6) gas in cracks in marble samples with alacrity. The imaging method produces images of gas with a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 100-250, which is very high for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in general, let alone for an image of a gas at thermal equilibrium polarization. To put this unusual SNR in better perspective, we imaged SF(6) in a crack in a marble sample and imaged the lung tissue of a live rat (a more familiar variety of sample to many MRI scientists) using the same pulse sequence, the same size coils and the same MRI system. In both cases, we try to image subvoxel thin sheets of material that should appear bright against a darker background. By choosing imaging parameters appropriate for the different relaxation properties of SF(6) gas versus lung tissue and by choosing voxel sizes appropriate for the different goals of detecting subvoxel cracks on marble versus resolving subvoxel thin sheets of tissue, the SNR for voxels full of material was 220 and 14 for marble and lung, respectively. A major factor is that we chose large voxels to optimize SNR for detecting small cracks and we chose small voxels for resolving lung features at the expense of SNR. Imaging physics will cooperate to provide detection of small cracks on marble, but David's size poses a challenge for magnet designers. For the modest goal of imaging cracks in the left ankle, we desire a magnet with an approximately 32-cm gap and a flux density of approximately 0.36 T that weighs <500 kg.

The physics of spin-rotation interaction in roughly spherical perfluorinated gas molecules has been studied extensively. But, it is difficult to calculate a spin-lattice relaxation time constant T1 for any given temperature and pressure using the published literature. We give a unified parameterization that makes use of the Clausius equation of state, Lennard-Jones collision dynamics, and a formulaic temperature dependence for collision cross section for rotational change. The model fits T1s for SF6, CF4, C2F6, and c-C4F8 for temperatures from 180 to 360 K and pressures from 2 to 210 kPa and in mixtures with other common gases to within our limits of measurement. It also fits previous data tabulated according to known number densities. Given a pressure, temperature, and mixture composition, one can now calculate T1s for common laboratory conditions with a known accuracy, typically 0.5%. Given the success of the model's formulaic structure, it is likely to apply to even broader ranges of physical conditions and to other gases that relax by spin-rotation interaction.

Three examples of thermally polarized gas NMR performed at New Mexico Resonance are presented to demonstrate its unique advantages in porous media studies. 1) In-vivo animal lung imaging by Kuethe et al., in which useful quality 3D images of rat lungs were obtained in 30 min. It is conjectured that comparable human lung images would take much less time to make, possibly by the ratio of body weights, a factor of several hundred. 2) The success of the lung imaging suggested other porous media as candidates for thermally polarized gas NMR. Caprihan and coworkers obtained excellent images from partially sintered ceramics and Vycor glass. Since then, Beyea has developed the technique of spatially resolved BET curves for ceramics and other nanoporous solids. In this way, surface area, pore size, and porosity, averaged over an image voxel, can be spatially resolved. This greatly aids in the characterization of such materials, especially with regards to spatial heterogeneities. 3) Finally, we describe Codd's propagator experiments on propane gas flowing through a packed bed of 300 microm beads. In order to increase signal-to-noise ratio, the flowing gas was pressurized to 170 kPa. Excellent quality propagators showing the discrete nature of the bead pack were obtained. This type of information is not available in comparable liquid studies because most spins will not diffuse far enough to sample the walls in the time available.

The lung volumes of mechanically ventilated rats were measured over the course of the respiratory cycle using the NMR signal strength from inhaled sulfurhexafluoride. Rats with elastase-induced emphysema showed larger lung volumes and slower exhalation than control rats. For humans the technique should be able to provide lung volume measurements at least 20 times a second., (Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

We use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging of C2F6 gas to characterize porosity, mean pore size, and permeability of partially sintered ceramic (Y-TZP Yttria-stabilized tetragonal-zirconia polycrystal) samples. Conventional measurements of these parameters gave porosity values from 0.18 to 0.4, mean pore sizes from 10 nm to 40 nm, and permeability from 4 nm(2) to 25 nm(2). The NMR methods are based on relaxation time measurements (T(1)) and the time dependent diffusion coefficient D(Delta). The relaxation time of C2F6 gas is longer in pores than in bulk gas and it increases as the pore sizes decrease. NMR yielded accurate porosity values after correcting for surface adsorption effects. A model for T(1) dependence on pore size that accounts for collisions between gas molecules and walls as well as surface adsorption effects is proposed. The model fits the experimental data well. Finally, the long time limit of D(Delta)/D(o), where D(o) is the bulk gas diffusion coefficient is useful for measuring tortuosity, while the short time limit was not achieved experimentally and could not be used for calculating surface-area to volume (S/V) ratios.

We partially obstructed the left bronchi of rats and imaged an inert insoluble gas, SF(6), in the lungs with NMR using a technique that clearly differentiates obstructed and normal ventilation. When the inhaled fraction of O(2) is high, SF(6) concentrates dramatically in regions of the lung with low ventilation-to-perfusion ratios (VA/Q); therefore, these regions are brighter in an image than where VA/Q values are normal or high. A second image, made when the inhaled fraction of O(2) is low, serves as a reference because the SF(6) fraction is nearly uniform, regardless of VA/Q. The quotient of the first and second images displays the low-VA/Q regions and is corrected for other causes of brightness variation. The technique may provide sufficient quantification of VA/Q to be a useful research tool. The noise in the quotient image is described by the probability density function for the quotient of two normal random variables. When the signal-to-noise ratio of the denominator image is >10, the signal-to-noise ratio of the quotient image is similar to that of the parent images and decreases with pixel value.

When patients with obstructive lung disease breathe helium-oxygen mixtures, their arterial PCO2, is lowered towards normal, indicating more effective ventilation. However, there is a lack of detailed respiratory data from clinical cases, so that the mechanisms remain unclear. To study relevant variables during hypoxemia and obstruction in the absence of disease, we undertook experiments with healthy subjects breathing normoxic and hypoxic gas mixtures of differing densities (air, 13.7% O2 in N2 and 13.7% O2 in helium) through an experimental obstruction (resistive airway loading). This increased airway resistance was twice that reported from the ambient-pleural pressure differences in patients with moderately severe emphysema. Without imposed resistance the total ventilation (VE) increased 27% on both hypoxic mixtures. With normoxia, the obstruction increased tidal volume but decreased frequency so that VE and alveolar ventilation (VA) were essentially unchanged. With hypoxia, breathing pattern changed similarly, but now VE decreased while VA was maintained. Helium returned the breathing patterns toward normal. Obstruction lowered the rapid increase in VE from two or three breaths of N2, but the decrease from two or three breaths of O2 was unchanged. We detected an increase in metabolic rate with obstructed breathing that was reduced by the helium mixtures. The remarkable finding was that despite the obstruction being markedly uncomfortable because of the high resistance, we did not find any substantial disturbance in gas exchange, compared to hypoxia with no obstruction. Thus, the main mechanisms responsible for improved blood gases in patients breathing helium mixtures were outside the scope of our experiment and likely related to disease factors.

Some NMR experiments produce data with several of the initial points missing. The inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) assumes these points are present so the data cannot be so transformed without artifact-ridden results. This problem is often particularly severe when projection imaging with free-induction decays (FIDs). This paper compares recent methods for obtaining a projection from incomplete data and elaborates on their strengths and limitations. One method is to write the transform that would take the desired projection to the truncated data set, and then solve the matrix equation by singular value decomposition. A second replaces the missing data with zeros, so that an IDFT produces a projection with unwanted artifacts. Then one solves the matrix equation that takes the desired projection to the artifact-ridden projection. A third uses the same artifact-ridden projection, but fits the region outside the bandwidth of the sample with as many sinusoidal functions as there are missing data. The coefficients of these functions are estimates of the missing data, and the projection is obtained by transforming the completed FID or subtracting the extrapolation of the fitted curve from the region containing the object. We show that when all three methods are applicable, they theoretically produce the same result. They differ by ease of implementation and possibly by computational errors. They give a result similar to that of the previous method that iteratively corrects the FID and projection after repeated IDFTs and DFTs. We find that one can obtain a projection despite missing a substantial number of data., (Copyright 1999 Academic Press.)

MRI systems often use magnetic field gradient and shim pulse-shaping networks (pre-emphasis) to correct for magnetic field distortions caused by eddy currents. A pre-emphasis system that uses up to 16 fixed resistor-capacitor (RC) time constants per channel with programmable amplitude coefficients is described. The magnetic fields induced by the pre-emphasis RC time constants serve as a set of basis functions for compensating eddy-current fields induced by the gradient set. The resultant time-varying magnetic field gradient accurately reflects the gradient specified by the pulse programmer. Reductions in eddy-current fields are demonstrated for actively shielded and unshielded gradient sets.

Rat lungs were imaged by 19F projection MRI of hexafluoroethane, mixed with 20% oxygen to form the inhaled gas. The 3D image had 700 microm resolution, and the data took 4.3 h to acquire. Free induction decays were collected in the presence of steady magnetic field gradients in 686 different directions. To take advantage of fast relaxation (T1 = 5.9 +/- 0.2 ms), the repetition time was 5 ms. To eliminate signal loss from magnetic field inhomogeneities, data were collected within 2 ms of spin excitation (from 80 micros to 2 ms after the 42-micros pi/2 pulses). The singular value decomposition of the transform from frequency to time domain was used to obtain projections despite the absence of data during and immediately after the RF pulses. Inert fluorinated gas imaging may be less expensive than polarized noble gas imaging and is appropriate for imaging steady-state rather than transient gas concentrations.

Should patients with cobalt alloy (ASTM F563) retinal tacks (Grieshaber cat. #611.95) in their eyes be subjected to the magnetic fields used in magnetic resonance imaging? Although the tacks are not ferromagnetic, they will experience a retarding torque when they are moved at the high angular velocities of human eye motion. Because retinal tacks are small (2.85 mm x 0.9 mm), the torque is difficult to measure. Rather, we measured the torque on a model 25.4 times larger and used a scaling law derived from Maxwell's equations to calculate the force on the tack. The scaling law states that the torque varies with the cube of the object's length. To mimic the motion, models of retinal tacks were attached to Plexiglas rods and the assemblies were swung as pendulums. The pendulums were oriented in the magnetic field of a 1.5 T imager to experience the greatest retardation. Retarding torques were estimated from the rate of decrease of the pendulum amplitude, both inside and outside the magnet. Even if the retinal tacks were as conductive as 6061T6 aluminum alloy (25 MS/m) and the velocity of the surface of the eye were 24 cm/s (angular vel. of 1130 deg/s), the retarding torque would be only 1.6 times the weight of the tack acting with a lever arm as long as the distance from its tip to its center of gravity. The maximum retarding torque on an implanted retinal tack in a 1.5 T magnet is similar to the torque produced by gravity alone acting on the tack and is a tolerable risk.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Because clinical studies have indicated that shear in fluids may be one of the major causes of magnetic resonance image artifacts, we imaged an apparatus that would separate the effects of shear from the plethora of other motion artifacts. The apparatus contained fluid between two concentric cylinders. To produce shear, we turned the outer cylinder. To produce motion without shear, we turned both cylinders as one. Shear rates near 200 s-1 (similar to those in large arteries) can cause pixel intensities either to increase 40% or decrease to background levels. Increases can occur when the velocities are nearly parallel to the phase-encoding gradient. Decreases can occur when velocities are in the direction of the frequency gradient. The decreases are similar to those predicted from phase dispersion within a "voxel" so long as the voxel's phase warp does not exceed 2 pi.

The unidirectional flow through the gas-exchanging bronchi of bird lungs is known to be effected by (1) the structure of the major bronchi and (2) a pressure difference between the cranial and caudal air sacs. To study the effects of bronchial structure, simple physical models of bird lungs were constructed. They suggested that, to achieve unidirectional flow, air in the caudal portion of the primary bronchus must be directed towards the orifices of the mediodorsal bronchi. To study the effect of air sac pressures, a controllable pressure difference was produced between the air sac orifices of fixed duck lungs. The cranial orifices had a higher pressure than the caudal ones during inhalation and vice versa during exhalation. There was a set of pressure differences for which the paleopulmo received the same flow rate during inhalation as during exhalation. High pressure differences caused more flow in the paleopulmo during exhalation than during inhalation; low pressure differences had the converse effect.

Although the appearance of laminar vascular flow in magnetic resonance (MR) images has been characterized, there is no general agreement about the effect of turbulent flow on MR signal intensity. This study uses a fast scan gradient echo pulse sequence to evaluate nonpulsatile turbulent flow in two different models. The first model simulated flow in normal vascular structure. It generated nonpulsatile, laminar and turbulent flow in straight, smooth-walled Plexiglas tubes. The second model simulated flow through a vascular stenosis. It generated nonpulsatile, laminar, and turbulent flow through an orifice. Velocities and flow rates ranged from low physiologic to well above the physiologic range (velocity = .3 to 280 cm/second, flow rate from .15 to 40 L/minute). Transition from laminar to turbulent flow was observed with dye streams. Turbulent flow in straight, smooth-walled vessels was not associated with a decrease in MR signal intensity even at the highest velocities and flow rates studied. The transition from laminar to turbulent flow through an orifice is not associated with a decrease in gradient echo signal intensity. As the intensity of the turbulent flow increases, however, there is a threshold above which signal intensity decreases linearly as turbulence increases (r = .97). This study suggests that flow in normal vascular structures should not be associated with decreased signal intensity in gradient echo images. Turbulent flow through areas such as valves, valvular lesions or vascular stenoses, may be associated with a decrease in gradient echo signal intensity.