Opportunities for improved myocardial first-pass perfusion imaging at 0.55T

Myocardial first-pass perfusion (FPP) MRI is used in the clinic to diagnose coronary artery disease but has limited spatial resolution and coverage. Contemporary low-field scanners have the potential to provide FPP imaging with improved resolution and coverage by leveraging different acquisitions, such as spiral bSSFP. In this study, we demonstrate a time-efficient spiral bSSFP FPP pulse sequence at 0.55T and compare it with the standard Cartesian FPP in 4 healthy volunteers. Measured SNR, CNR, and myocardial boundary sharpness scores are all higher in the spiral images than in Cartesian images.