Single breathhold cardiac CINE imaging with multi-echo three-dimensional hybrid radial SSFP acquisition.

PURPOSE: To achieve single breathhold whole heart cardiac CINE imaging with improved spatial resolution and temporal resolution by using a multi-echo three-dimensional (3D) hybrid radial SSFP acquisition.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Multi-echo 3D hybrid radial SSFP acquisitions were used to acquire cardiac CINE imaging within a single breathhold. An optimized interleaving scheme was developed for view ordering throughout the cardiac cycle.
RESULTS: Whole heart short axis views were acquired with a spatial resolution of 1.3 x 1.3 x 8.0 mm(3) and temporal resolution of 45 ms, within a single 17 s breathhold. The technique was validated on eight healthy volunteers by measuring the left ventricular volume throughout the cardiac cycle and comparing with the conventional 2D multiple breathhold technique. The left ventricle functional measurement bias of our proposed 3D technique from the conventional 2D technique: end diastolic volume -3.3 mL +/- 13.7 mL, end systolic volume 1.4 mL +/- 6.1 mL, and ejection fraction -1.7% +/- 4.3%, with high correlations 0.94, 0.97, and 0.91, accordingly.
CONCLUSION: A multi-echo 3D hybrid radial SSFP acquisition was developed to allow for a whole heart cardiac CINE exam in a single breathhold. Cardiac function measurements in volunteers compared favorably with the standard multiple breathhold exams. 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.