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Free-breathing myocardial T2* mapping using GRE-EPI and automatic non-rigid motion correction
Ning Jin1, Juliana Serafim da Silveira2, Marie-Pierre Jolly3
1Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc, 460 West 12th Ave, Room 311, OH 43210, Columbus, OH, USA. ning.jin@siemens.com.
Summary
A new free-breathing cardiac T2* mapping technique using motion correction (MOCO) and gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (GRE-EPI) provides accurate measurements of myocardial and liver iron overload, overcoming limitations of conventional breath-hold methods.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- Medical Imaging Techniques
- Iron Overload Assessment
Background:
- Myocardial T2* measurement is crucial for assessing cardiac iron overload risk.
- Conventional breath-hold sequences are limited by respiratory motion, impacting feasibility in some patients.
- A novel free-breathing approach is needed to improve T2* quantification.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a free-breathing myocardial T2* mapping technique.
- To assess the accuracy and feasibility of this new method compared to conventional techniques.
- To evaluate its performance in patients with and without iron overload.
Main Methods:
- Acquisition of ECG-triggered, T2*-weighted images using a single-shot GRE-EPI sequence during free-breathing.
- Application of automatic non-rigid motion correction (MOCO) for respiratory motion.
- Comparison with conventional breath-hold segmented multi-echo gradient echo (MGRE) sequence in 117 patients.
Main Results:
- The free-breathing MOCO GRE-EPI sequence achieved significantly higher image quality scores than breath-hold MGRE.
- Only 2 out of 117 free-breathing studies had inadequate image quality, versus 21 breath-hold studies.
- Excellent agreement (intra-class correlation coefficients 0.868 for myocardium, 0.986 for liver) and absolute agreement were observed between the two methods.
Conclusions:
- Free-breathing T2* mapping using MOCO GRE-EPI is accurate for myocardial and liver iron assessment.
- This technique is robust against respiratory motion, enhancing clinical applicability.
- It offers a feasible alternative to breath-hold methods for T2* quantification.
