Cardiac MR Imaging: New Advances and Role of 3T
Section snippets
Potential advantages of 3T
The main advantage of MR imaging at higher magnetic field is the potential SNR gain. Theoretically, imaging at 3T leads to a two-fold increase in SNR, as compared with 1.5T, as the signal increases with B02, whereas noise contributions increase with B0[15]. These theoretical SNR advantages at 3T are of the most relevance for applications with borderline SNR at 1.5T, such as contrast-enhanced MR angiography, coronary MR angiography, and assessment of myocardial perfusion and viability.
In
Radiofrequency energy deposition
SAR increases almost quadratically with field strength (SAR∞B02). This limits the maximum allowable flip angles and the minimum achievable repetition time (TR), which in turn can restrict RF intensive techniques at 3T, such as SSFP cine and spin-echo train imaging.
Field inhomogeneity
Increased B0 inhomogeneity and T2∗\ susceptibility effects are well known anticipated problems at higher magnetic field [21], [22], [23]. These factors may result in regional shading and focal T2∗-induced signal loss (dark banding) or
Dark-blood anatomic imaging
After integration of ECG-gating with spin-echo imaging, the resulted dark blood images of the myocardium and cardiac chambers has gained broad acceptance in cardiac MR clinical applications [32], [33], [34], [35]. Black-blood preparation schemes for spin-echo imaging of the heart and blood vessels routinely involve a double inversion pulse pair [36], [37].
Dark blood imaging may benefit at 3T for two reasons:
- 1.
The higher readout bandwidth allows for shorter minimal echo times in spin-echo
Summary
Cardiac MR imaging is evolving rapidly and has matured to the point where it is now widely accepted as a powerful diagnostic tool with significant clinical and research applications. Although the majority of cardiac MR applications seems to be feasible at 3T, with performance and image quality at least similar to or higher in comparison with 1.5T, SAR limitations and susceptibility effects remain a primary concern, with potential challenges ahead. The integration of parallel imaging with 3T,
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