4D cardiac QSM acquisition and reconstruction of Free-Breathing ECG Gated Data: Initial Feasibility

Motivation: Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) faces challenges in cardiac imaging due to air-tissue interfaces and respiratory motion mitigated by 4D gating. Goal(s): This approach aims to enhance cardiac susceptibility mapping across the full cardiac cycle, achieving artifact reduction for improved clinical utility in CMR. Approach: A free-breathing, navigator-gated 4D cardiac QSM sequence was acquired on eight swines using a multi-echo GRE acquisition with CS-SENSE acceleration. MEDI reconstruction was performed on all cardiac phases. Results: Reconstructed susceptibility maps referenced to the porcine back muscle demonstrated artifact suppression in seven out of nine cardiac regions. Impact: This study establishes initial feasibility for a 4D free-breathing QSM approach in cardiac imaging, overcoming artifacts due of air-tissue interfaces and demonstrating robustness in mapping across cardiac phases.