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Improved turbo spin‐echo imaging of the heart with motion‐tracking
Author(s) -
Keegan Jennifer,
Gatehouse Peter D.,
Prasad Sanjay K.,
Firmin David N.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.20655
Subject(s) - fast spin echo , scanner , image quality , offset (computer science) , ventricle , short axis , computer science , biomedical engineering , computer vision , materials science , artificial intelligence , long axis , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology , mathematics , geometry , cardiology , image (mathematics) , programming language
Purpose To improve dark‐blood and short tau inversion recovery (STIR) prepared turbo spin‐echo (TSE) imaging of the heart, particularly in the basal short‐axis plane where cardiac misregistration between the preparation and imaging phases is high. Materials and Methods In the first approach (tracked), the basal short‐axis plane was labeled and tracked over the cardiac cycle. The slice‐selective 180° dark‐blood and STIR preparation pulses were then independently positioned on the appropriately timed labeled images. In the second approach (offset), the preparation pulses were output in the same orientation as the imaging plane, but with a user‐defined slice offset that was derived from the labeled data. Both approaches were compared with the standard untracked dark‐blood STIR TSE sequence (7‐mm slice thickness) in 10 healthy volunteers. Results For typical preparation slice thicknesses, tracked and offset TSE images were superior to the untracked images (both P < 0.01). For the more mobile right ventricle (RV), the image quality of the tracked images was superior to that of the offset images ( P < 0.05). Conclusion Tracking the through‐plane motion of the heart between preparation and imaging phases improves the quality of thin‐slice basal short‐axis TSE images, particularly for the more mobile RV. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.