Higher resolution cine imaging with compressed sensing for accelerated clinical left ventricular evaluation.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Medical Imaging Physics
• Cardiac Function Assessment

Background:

• Accurate quantification of left ventricular (LV) volumes and mass is crucial for diagnosing and managing cardiovascular diseases.
• Conventional balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) cine MRI sequences, while established, can be limited by longer acquisition times.
• Compressed sensing (CS) techniques offer potential for accelerating MRI acquisition without compromising image quality or diagnostic accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical feasibility of a novel high-resolution compressed sensing cine MRI sequence (CS_bSSFP).
• To compare the accuracy and reliability of CS_bSSFP for quantifying LV volumes and mass against conventional bSSFP.
• To assess image quality, regional wall motion, and imaging time between the two sequences.

Main Methods:

• Fifty patients underwent cardiac MRI on a 1.5T scanner.
• Acquisitions included a retrospectively gated conventional bSSFP sequence (acceleration factor 2) and a prospectively triggered CS_bSSFP sequence (net acceleration factor 8).
• Quantitative analysis of LV volumes, mass, ejection fraction, image quality, regional wall motion, and imaging time were performed and compared using statistical methods including Pearson's correlation and Bland-Altman analysis.

Main Results:

• The CS_bSSFP sequence demonstrated strong correlations (r > 0.97) and excellent agreement with the conventional bSSFP sequence for end-diastolic volume, end-systolic volume, ejection fraction, and LV mass.
• Image quality was comparable between the sequences, with significant correlation observed (r = 0.68, P < 0.0001).
• Quantitative regional myocardial wall motion also showed strong correlation (r = 0.87, P < 0.0001), and imaging time was significantly reduced with CS_bSSFP (1.1 ± 0.5 min vs. 5.6 ± 1.6 min, P < 0.0001).

Conclusions:

• The high-resolution cine CS_bSSFP sequence provides accurate and reliable quantification of left ventricular volumes and mass.
• This novel sequence significantly shortens cardiac MRI acquisition times.
• CS_bSSFP is clinically feasible and represents a valuable advancement for cardiovascular imaging.