High-resolution 3D whole-heart bright- and black-blood imaging with co-registered T2 mapping at 0.55 T

Conventional CMR exams for assessment of cardiac anatomy and tissue characterization require multiple sequential 2D acquisitions under breath-hold in different orientations, in addition to being limited to 1.5 T and 3 T.

In this study, we sought to develop a novel 3D motion-compensated free-breathing sequence for comprehensive high-resolution whole-heart assessment of cardiovascular anatomy via simultaneous bright- and black-blood imaging and co-registered $T_2$ myocardial tissue quantification in a one-click scan at 0.55 T.

Good agreement with a spin-echo reference sequence was found in the phantom for $T_2$ mapping. In-vivo, the proposed research sequence was evaluated in 10 healthy subjects, providing great delineation of cardiac and vascular structures, good visibility of coronary arteries and accurate $T_2$ parametric mapping in a clinically feasible time of less than 9 min.