Aim To investigate the application value of high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI) including 3D T1-VISTA sequence for intracranial artery wall imaging in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) complicated with ischemic stroke. Methods High definition magnetic resonance imaging data of 95 patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack were collected in our hospital. Some cases were excluded, because the poor image quality or scanning level tilt which might lead to unsatisfactory data measurement, and a total of 46 patients were included in the final analysis of the image data. The patients were divided into two groups:17 cases in T2DM group, 29 cases in non-T2DM group. The vessel wall parameters of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA), left MCA, and basilar artery (BA) were measured. Results HR-MRI could clearly show the intracranial arterial wall. MCA plaques were mostly located in the inferior wall of vessel. BA plaques were mostly located in the left wall of vessel, next to the abdominal wall. 3D T1-VISTA could clearly show the existence of small plaques. In comparison between T2DM group and non-T2DM group, the differences of luminal area (LA) (P＝0.003), wall area/luminal area (WA/LA) ratio (P＝0.018) in right MCA and WA/LA ratio (P＝0.015) in left MCA were statistically significant. Conclusions HR-MRI can clearly show the intracranial arterial wall detail in patients with T2DM complicated with ischemic stroke. It can find the wall thickening caused by atherosclerosis, and identify the plaque or thrombosis of responsible vessel in cerebral infarction. HR-MRI can early detect the intracranial vascular lesions.