Feasibility of multiple-view myocardial perfusion MRI using radial simultaneous multi-slice acquisitions

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Medical Imaging Physics
• Coronary Artery Disease Diagnostics

Background:

• Standard cardiac MRI uses limited short-axis slices, potentially missing left ventricle abnormalities.
• Improved myocardial perfusion imaging is crucial for accurate coronary artery disease (CAD) detection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of radial simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) MRI for comprehensive cardiac coverage.
• To evaluate a motion-robust reconstruction framework for improved image quality in myocardial perfusion MRI.

Main Methods:

• Radial SMS MRI was used to acquire simultaneous short-axis and long-axis slices (2CH LA, 4CH LA) with and without ECG gating.
• A pixel tracking spatiotemporal constrained reconstruction method was applied to motion-corrupted data.
• Image quality metrics (SNR, CNR) were compared between reconstructions with and without pixel tracking.

Main Results:

• Complete coverage of the left ventricle (≥3 SA and ≥3 LA slices) was achieved in a single contrast pass per heartbeat.
• The pixel tracking reconstruction improved average SNR by 21% and CNR by 30%.
• Temporal blurring was reduced in both gated and ungated acquisitions.

Conclusions:

• Radial SMS MRI enables simultaneous multi-slice myocardial perfusion imaging across multiple views in every heartbeat.
• This technique enhances confidence in CAD detection by providing improved apical coverage and revealing ischemia in different orientations.
• The proposed pixel tracking reconstruction offers significant image quality improvements with minimal computational overhead.