Comparing Beat Sensor-Triggered and ECG-Triggered Cardiac MRI: A Prospective Clinical Study

Motivation: Traditional cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) relies on electrocardiography (ECG) for triggering, which involves complex preparation and is susceptible to false triggering due to magnetic field interference. Goal(s): To evaluate the clinical feasibility of beat sensor (BS) for efficient heartbeat-triggered cardiac MR scanning. Approach: In a prospective study, 50 participants underwent cardiac MRI triggered by both BS and ECG, with assessments of image quality and quantitative parameters. Results: BS-triggered cardiac MRI showed comparable image quality and quantitative metrics to ECG, with higher signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in Cine and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) in LGE images. Impact: This study demonstrates the clinical feasibility of BS-triggering for cardiac MRI, offering a viable alternative to ECG triggering, and potentially enhancing the quality of Cine and LGE images.