Cardiac cine imaging at 3 Tesla: initial experience with a 32-element body-array coil.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to assess the feasibility of cardiac cine imaging and evaluate image quality at 3 T using a body-array coil with 32 coil elements.


METHODS
Eight healthy volunteers (3 men; median age 29 years) were examined on a 3-T magnetic resonance scanner (Magnetom Trio, Siemens Medical Solutions) using a 32-element phased-array coil (prototype from In vivo Corp.). Gradient-recalled-echo (GRE) cine (GRAPPAx3), GRE cine with tagging lines, steady-state-free-precession (SSFP) cine (GRAPPAx3 and x4), and SSFP cine(TSENSEx4 andx6) images were acquired in short-axis and 4-chamber view. Reference images with identical scan parameters were acquired using the total-imaging-matrix (Tim) coil system with a total of 12 coil elements. Images were assessed by 2 observers in a consensus reading with regard to image quality, noise and presence of artifacts. Furthermore, signal-to-noise values were determined in phantom measurements.


RESULTS
In phantom measurements signal-to-noise values were increased by 115-155% for the various cine sequences using the 32-element coil. Scoring of image quality yielded statistically significant increased image quality with the SSFP-GRAPPAx4, SSFP-TSENSEx4, and SSFP-TSENSEx6 sequence using the 32-element coil (P < 0.05). Similarly, scoring of image noise yielded a statistically significant lower noise rating with the SSFP-GRAPPAx4, GRE-GRAPPAx3, SSFP-TSENSEx4, and SSFP-TSENSEx6 sequence using the 32-element coil (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
This study shows that cardiac cine imaging at 3 T using a 32-element body-array coil is feasible in healthy volunteers. Using a large number of coil elements with a favorable sensitivity profile supports faster image acquisition, with high diagnostic image quality even for high parallel imaging factors.
Fenchel
Michael
M
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany. michael.fenchel@med.uni-tuebingen.de
Deshpande
Vibhas S
VS
Nael
Kambiz
K
Finn
J Paul
JP
Miller
Stephan
S
Ruehm
Stefan
S
Laub
Gerhard
G
D000328:Adult; D016477:Artifacts; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging