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Contrast‐enhanced specific absorption rate‐efficient 3D cardiac cine with respiratory‐triggered radiofrequency gating
Author(s) -
Henningsson Markus,
Chan Raymond H.,
Goddu Beth,
Goepfert Lois A.,
Razavi Reza,
Botnar Rene M.,
Schaeffter Tobias,
Nezafat Reza
Publication year - 2013
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.23821
Subject(s) - gating , contrast (vision) , medicine , absorption (acoustics) , cardiology , nuclear magnetic resonance , materials science , physics , optics , physiology , composite material
Purpose: To investigate the use of radiofrequency (RF) gating in conjunction with a paramagnetic contrast agent to reduce the specific absorption rate (SAR) and increase the blood‐myocardium contrast in balanced steady‐state free precession (bSSFP) 3D cardiac cine. Materials and Methods: RF gating was implemented by synchronizing the RF‐excitation with an external respiratory sensor (bellows), which could additionally be used for respiratory gating. For reference, respiratory‐gated 3D cine images were acquired without RF gating. Free‐breathing 3D cine images were acquired in eight healthy subjects before and after contrast injection (Gd‐BOPTA) and compared to breath‐hold 2D cine. Results: RF‐gated 3D cine reduced the SAR by nearly 40% without introducing significant artifacts while providing left ventricle (LV) measurements similar to those obtained with 2D cine. The contrast‐to‐noise ratio (CNR) was significantly higher for 3D cine compared to 2D cine, both before and after contrast injection; however, no statistically significant CNR increase was observed for the postcontrast 3D cine compared to the precontrast acquisitions. Conclusion: Respiratory‐triggered RF gating significantly reduces SAR in 3D cine acquisitions, which may enable a more widespread clinical use of 3D cine. Furthermore, CNR of 3D bSSFP cine is higher than of 2D and administration of Gd‐BOPTA does not improve the CNR of 3D cine. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;37:986–992. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.