title: Motion and flow insensitive adiabatic T2 -preparation module for cardiac MR imaging at 3 Tesla.
abstract: A versatile method for generating T2 -weighting is a T2 -preparation module, which has been used successfully for cardiac imaging at 1.5T. Although it has been applied at 3T, higher fields (B0 ≥ 3T) can degrade B0 and B1 homogeneity and result in nonuniform magnetization preparation. For cardiac imaging, blood flow and cardiac motion may further impair magnetization preparation. In this study, a novel T2 -preparation module containing multiple adiabatic B1 -insensitive refocusing pulses is introduced and compared with three previously described modules [(a) composite MLEV4, (b) modified BIR-4 (mBIR-4), and (c) Silver-Hoult-pair]. In the static phantom, the proposed module provided similar or better B0 and B1 insensitivity than the other modules. In human subjects (n = 21), quantitative measurement of image signal coefficient of variation, reflecting overall image inhomogeneity, was lower for the proposed module (0.10) than for MLEV4 (0.15, P < 0.0001), mBIR-4 (0.27, P < 0.0001), and Silver-Hoult-pair (0.14, P = 0.001) modules. Similarly, qualitative analysis revealed that the proposed module had the best image quality scores and ranking (both, P < 0.0001). In conclusion, we present a new T2 -preparation module, which is shown to be robust for cardiac imaging at 3T in comparison with existing methods.
authors.affiliation: Duke Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Jenista
authors.forename: Wolfgang G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Rehwald
authors.forename: Enn-Ling
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Han W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Klem
authors.forename: Michele A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Raymond J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D016477:Artifacts; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D019028:Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity