PURPOSE: To show that density-weighted (DW) k-space sampling improves the quality of human cardiac sodium imaging, a novel method was implemented that combines the high signal-to-noise efficiency of three-dimensional phase-encoding with the advantageous localization performance of nonuniform sampling. A simulation demonstrates substantially reduced blood contamination in the myocardium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At 2.0 T, DW cardiac "fast" sodium images with a voxel size of 844 microL in seven minutes and "high-resolution" scans in 30 minutes with a voxel size of 570 microL were acquired. For comparison, conventional gradient-echo imaging was also performed. RESULTS: In the DW images, a myocardial signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 16.0 in the left ventricle and 8.5 in the septum (N = 4) was measured. With longer experimental duration (about 30 minutes; N = 3), the image quality and the SNR could be further improved (voxel size: 570 microL; SNR: blood 16.1, septum 10.6). Compared to the gradient-echo images, the image quality was substantially improved. CONCLUSION: This new method for human cardiac sodium imaging provides high image quality combined with optimal sensitivity and thus may improve the clinical applicability of 23Na cardiac MRI.
PURPOSE: To show that density-weighted (DW) k-space sampling improves the quality of human cardiac sodium imaging, a novel method was implemented that combines the high signal-to-noise efficiency of three-dimensional phase-encoding with the advantageous localization performance of nonuniform sampling. A simulation demonstrates substantially reduced blood contamination in the myocardium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: At 2.0 T, DW cardiac "fast" sodium images with a voxel size of 844 microL in seven minutes and "high-resolution" scans in 30 minutes with a voxel size of 570 microL were acquired. For comparison, conventional gradient-echo imaging was also performed. RESULTS: In the DW images, a myocardial signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 16.0 in the left ventricle and 8.5 in the septum (N = 4) was measured. With longer experimental duration (about 30 minutes; N = 3), the image quality and the SNR could be further improved (voxel size: 570 microL; SNR: blood 16.1, septum 10.6). Compared to the gradient-echo images, the image quality was substantially improved. CONCLUSION: This new method for human cardiac sodium imaging provides high image quality combined with optimal sensitivity and thus may improve the clinical applicability of 23Na cardiac MRI.
Authors: Victor D Schepkin; Thomas L Chenevert; Kyle Kuszpit; Kuei C Lee; Charles R Meyer; Timothy D Johnson; Alnawaz Rehemtulla; Brian D Ross Journal: Magn Reson Imaging Date: 2006-01-26 Impact factor: 2.546
Authors: Melissa M Meyer; Stefan Haneder; Simon Konstandin; Johannes Budjan; John N Morelli; Lothar R Schad; Hans U Kerl; Stefan O Schoenberg; Christoph Kabbasch Journal: BMC Med Imaging Date: 2019-04-03 Impact factor: 1.930