Free-breathing whole-heart 3D cine magnetic resonance imaging with prospective respiratory motion compensation

PurposeTo develop and validate a new prospective respiratory motion compensation algorithm for free-breathing whole-heart 3D cine steady-state free precession (SSFP) imaging. MethodsIn a 3D cine SSFP sequence, 4 excitations per cardiac cycle are re-purposed to prospectively track heart position. Specifically, their 1D image is reconstructed and routed into the scanner's standard diaphragmatic navigator processing system. If all 4 signals are in end-expiration, cine image data from the entire cardiac cycle is accepted for image reconstruction. Prospective validation was carried out in patients (N=17) by comparing in each a conventional breath-hold 2D cine ventricular short-axis stack and a free-breathing whole-heart 3D cine data set. ResultsAll 3D cine SSFP acquisitions were successful and the mean scan time was 5.92.7min. Left and right ventricular end-diastolic, end-systolic, and stroke volumes by 3D cine SSFP were all larger than those from 2D cine SSFP. This bias was<6% except for right ventricular end-systolic volume that was 12%. The 3D cine images had a lower ventricular blood-to-myocardium contrast ratio, contrast-to-noise ratio, mass, and subjective quality score. ConclusionThe novel prospective respiratory motion compensation method for 3D cine SSFP imaging was robust and efficient and yielded slightly larger ventricular volumes and lower mass compared to breath-hold 2D cine imaging. Magn Reson Med 80:181-189, 2018. (c) 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.