3D joint T1/T1ρ/T2 mapping and water‐fat imaging for contrast‐agent free myocardial tissue characterization at 1.5T

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine Vol. 93; no. 6; pp. 2297 - 2310
• Main Authors: Crabb, Michael G., Kunze, Karl P., Littlewood, Simon J., Tripp, Donovan, Fotaki, Anastasia, Prieto, Claudia, Botnar, René M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.06.2025; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: 3D multi‐parametric MRI; cardiac MRI; Cardiovascular diseases; Coding; Data acquisition; Heart diseases; Image acquisition; Image reconstruction; Imaging Methodology; Mapping; Medical imaging; myocardial tissue characterisation; Myocarditis; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; T1$$ {T}_1 $$ mapping; T1ρ$$ {T}_{1\rho } $$ mapping; T2$$ {T}_2 $$ mapping
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.30397

Purpose To develop a novel, free‐breathing, 3D joint T1$$ {T}_1 $$/T1ρ$$ {T}_{1\rho } $$/T2$$ {T}_2 $$ mapping sequence with Dixon encoding to provide co‐registered 3D T1$$ {T}_1 $$, T1ρ$$ {T}_{1\rho } $$, and T2$$ {T}_2 $$ maps and water‐fat volumes with isotropic spatial resolution in a single ≈7$$ \approx 7 $$ min scan for comprehensive contrast‐agent‐free myocardial tissue characterization and simultaneous evaluation of the whole‐heart anatomy. Methods An interleaving sequence over 5 heartbeats is proposed to provide T1$$ {T}_1 $$, T1ρ$$ {T}_{1\rho } $$, and T2$$ {T}_2 $$ encoding, with 3D data acquired with Dixon gradient‐echo readout and 2D image navigators to enable 100%$$ 100\% $$ respiratory scan efficiency. Images were reconstructed with a non‐rigid motion‐corrected, low‐rank patch‐based reconstruction, and maps were generated through dictionary matching. The proposed sequence was compared against conventional 2D techniques in phantoms, 10 healthy subjects, and 1 patient. Results The proposed 3D T1$$ {T}_1 $$, T1ρ$$ {T}_{1\rho } $$, and T2$$ {T}_2 $$ measurements showed excellent correlation with 2D reference measurements in phantoms. For healthy subjects, the mapping values of septal myocardial tissue were T1=1060±48ms$$ {T}_1=1060\pm 48\kern0.2778em \mathrm{ms} $$, T1ρ=48.1±3.9ms$$ {T}_{1\rho }=48.1\pm 3.9\kern0.2778em \mathrm{ms} $$, and T2=44.2±3.2ms$$ {T}_2=44.2\pm 3.2\kern0.2778em \mathrm{ms} $$ for the proposed sequence, against T1=959±15ms$$ {T}_1=959\pm 15\kern0.2778em \mathrm{ms} $$, T1ρ=56.4±1.9ms$$ {T}_{1\rho }=56.4\pm 1.9\kern0.2778em \mathrm{ms} $$, and T2=47.3±1.5ms$$ {T}_2=47.3\pm 1.5\kern0.2778em \mathrm{ms} $$ for 2D MOLLI, 2D T1ρ$$ {T}_{1\rho } $$‐prep bSSFP and 2D T2$$ {T}_2 $$‐prep bSSFP, respectively. Promising results were obtained when comparing the proposed mapping to 2D references in 1 patient with active myocarditis. Conclusion The proposed approach enables simultaneous 3D whole‐heart joint T1$$ {T}_1 $$/T1ρ$$ {T}_{1\rho } $$/T2$$ {T}_2 $$ mapping and water/fat imaging in ≈$$ \approx $$ 7 min scan time, demonstrating good agreement with conventional mapping techniques in phantoms and healthy subjects and promising results in 1 patient with suspected cardiovascular disease.