Respiratory navigated free-breathing myocardial arterial spin labeling (ASL) with phase sensitive reconstruction

Myocardial arterial spin labeling (myoASL) holds promise for needle-free myocardial blood flow (MBF) quantification but requires tedious averaging over multiple breath-holds. Here, free-breathing myoASL was implemented with dual-navigator gating, both with bSSFP and spoiled GRE readout. Images were processed using individual blood T1 and inversion time correction as well as a phase-sensitive (PS) image reconstruction. Phantom results showed PS reconstruction to reduce MBF variations for short RR and T1 values. Perfusion values were comparable with breath-held myoASL and on par with the literature. Ultimately, this can enable faster myoASL acquisitions with improved patient comfort.