Free-breathing variable flip angle balanced SSFP cardiac cine imaging with reduced SAR at 3T

Subashini Srinivasan; Randall M Kroeker; Simon Gabriel; Adam Plotnik; Sergio R Godinez; Peng Hu; Nancy Halnon; J Paul Finn; Daniel B Ennis

doi:10.1002/mrm.26011

Free-breathing variable flip angle balanced SSFP cardiac cine imaging with reduced SAR at 3T

Magn Reson Med. 2016 Oct;76(4):1210-6. doi: 10.1002/mrm.26011. Epub 2015 Oct 28.

Authors

Subashini Srinivasan^{1

2}, Randall M Kroeker³, Simon Gabriel¹, Adam Plotnik¹, Sergio R Godinez¹, Peng Hu^{1

4}, Nancy Halnon⁵, J Paul Finn^{1

4}, Daniel B Ennis^{6

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
² Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
³ Siemens Canada Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
⁴ Biomedical Physics Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
⁶ Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA. [email protected].
⁷ Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA. [email protected].
⁸ Biomedical Physics Interdepartmental Program, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA. [email protected].

Abstract

Purpose: To develop a free-breathing variable flip angle (VFA) balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) cardiac cine imaging technique with reduced specific absorption rate (SAR) at 3 Tesla.

Methods: Free-breathing VFA (FB-VFA) images in the short-axis and four-chamber views were acquired using an optimal VFA scheme, then compared with conventional breath-hold constant flip angle (BH-CFA) acquisitions. Two cardiac MRI experts used a 5-point scale to score images from healthy subjects (N = 10). The left ventricular ejection fraction, end diastolic volume (LVEDV), end systolic volume, stroke volume (LVSV), and end diastolic myocardial mass (LVEDM) were determined by manual contour analysis for BH-CFA and FB-VFA. A pilot evaluation of FB-VFA was performed in one patient with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Results: FB-VFA SAR was 25% lower than BH-CFA with similar blood-myocardium contrast. The qualitative FB-VFA score was lower than the BH-CFA for the short-axis (3.1 ± 0.5 versus 4.3 ± 0.8; P < 0.05) and the four-chamber view (3.4 ± 0.4 versus 4.6 ± 0.6; P < 0.05). The LVEDV and the LVSV were 5% and 12% larger (P < 0.05) for FB-VFA compared with BH-CFA. There was no difference in LVEDM.

Conclusion: FB-VFA bSSFP cardiac cine imaging decreased the SAR at 3T with image quality sufficient to perform cardiac functional analysis. Magn Reson Med 76:1210-1216, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: bSSFP; free-breathing cardiac cine imaging; variable flip angle.

Publication types

Evaluation Study

MeSH terms

Absorption, Radiation
Adult
Algorithms
Female
Heart Function Tests / methods
Heart Ventricles / diagnostic imaging*
Humans
Image Enhancement / methods
Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods*
Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine / methods*
Male
Radiation Exposure / analysis*
Reproducibility of Results
Respiratory Mechanics
Respiratory-Gated Imaging Techniques / methods*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted*

Grants and funding

P30 AR057230/AR/NIAMS NIH HHS/United States