Whole-heart coronary MRA with 100% respiratory gating efficiency: Self-navigated three-dimensional retrospective image-based motion correction (TRIM)

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine Vol. 71; no. 1; pp. 67 - 74
• Main Authors: Pang, Jianing, Bhat, Himanshu, Sharif, Behzad, Fan, Zhaoyang, Thomson, Louise E. J., LaBounty, Troy, Friedman, John D., Min, James, Berman, Daniel S., Li, Debiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: 3D affine transform; 3D radial acquisition; Adult; Algorithms; Coronary Angiography - methods; coronary MRA; Coronary Vessels - anatomy & histology; Data processing; Humans; Image Enhancement - methods; Imaging, Three-Dimensional - methods; Magnetic Resonance Angiography - methods; Male; Motion; Reference Values; Reproducibility of Results; respiratory motion correction; Respiratory-Gated Imaging Techniques - methods; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; 3D radial acquisition; respiratory motion correction; coronary MRA; 3D affine transform
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.24628

Purpose To develop a three‐dimensional retrospective image‐based motion correction technique for whole‐heart coronary MRA with self‐navigation that eliminates both the need to setup a diaphragm navigator and gate the acquisition. Methods The proposed technique uses one‐dimensional self‐navigation to track the superior–inferior translation of the heart, with which the acquired three‐dimensional radial k‐space data is segmented into different respiratory bins. Respiratory motion is then estimated in image space using an affine transform model and subsequently this information is used to perform efficient motion correction in k‐space. The performance of the proposed technique on healthy volunteers is compared with the conventional navigator gating approach as well as data binning using diaphragm navigator. Results The proposed method is able to reduce the imaging time to 7.1±0.5 min from 13.9±2.6 min with conventional navigator gating. The scan setup time is reduced as well due to the elimination of the navigator. The proposed method yields excellent image quality comparable with either conventional navigator gating or the navigator binning approach. Conclusion We have developed a new respiratory motion correction technique for coronary MRA that enables 1 mm3 isotropic resolution and whole‐heart coverage with 7 min of scan time. Further tests on patient population are needed to determine its clinical usage. Magn Reson Med 71:67–74, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.