Human cardiac imaging at 3 T using phased array coils.
Using a two-element phased array receiver coil, single breath-hold, ECG gated cardiac images of signal-to-noise ratios up to 130 and contrast-to-noise ratios exceeding 35 between myocardium and blood were recorded at 3 T. At several locations within the myocardium, T*(2) and B(0) inhomogeneity were determined. Because of shorter T*(2) times and larger B(0) inhomogeneities attributable to enhanced susceptibility effects, real-time cardiac imaging, the use of spiral scans, and echo planar imaging are expected to be considerably more difficult at 3 T.
Noeske
R
R
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Berlin, Germany. ralph.noeske@ptb.de
Seifert
F
F
Rhein
K H
KH
Rinneberg
H
H
D016477:Artifacts; D004867:Equipment Design; D006321:Heart / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data