Accelerated and high-resolution cardiac T 2 mapping through peripheral k-space sharing

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine Vol. 81; no. 1; pp. 220 - 233
• Main Authors: Darçot, Emeline, Yerly, Jérôme, Colotti, Roberto, Masci, Pier Giorgio, Chaptinel, Jerome, Feliciano, Helene, Bianchi, Veronica, van Heeswijk, Ruud B
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2019
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Algorithms; Breath Holding; Contrast Media; Electrocardiography; Female; Healthy Volunteers; Heart - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Middle Aged; Models, Theoretical; Myocardial Infarction - diagnostic imaging; Myocardium; Observer Variation; Phantoms, Imaging; Reproducibility of Results; Respiration; Translational Medical Research; Young Adult; infarction; high spatial resolution; KWIC filter; T2 mapping; heart; radial imaging
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.27374

To develop high-spatial-resolution cardiac T mapping that allows for a reduced acquisition time while maintaining its precision. We implemented and optimized a new golden-angle radial T mapping technique named SKRATCH (Shared k-space Radial T Characterization of the Heart) that shares k-space peripheries of T -weighted images while preserving their contrasts. Six SKRATCH variants (gradient-recalled echo and balanced SSFP, free-breathing and breath-held, with and without a saturation preparation) were implemented, and their precision was compared with a navigator-gated reference technique in phantoms and 22 healthy volunteers at 3 T. The optimal breath-held SKRATCH technique was applied in a small cohort of patients with subacute myocardial infarction. The faster free-breathing SKRATCH technique reduced the acquisition time by 52.4%, while maintaining the precision and spatial resolution of the reference technique. Similarly, the most precise and robust breath-held SKRATCH technique demonstrated homogenous T values that did not significantly differ from the navigator-gated reference (T  = 39.9 ± 3.4 ms versus 39.5 ± 3.4 ms, P > .20, respectively). All infarct patients demonstrated a large T elevation in the ischemic regions of the myocardium. The optimized SKRATCH technique enabled the accelerated acquisition of high-spatial-resolution T maps, was validated in healthy adult volunteers, and was successfully applied to a small initial group of patients.