Self‐gated golden‐angle spiral 4D flow MRI

Purpose The acquisition of 4D flow magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in cardiovascular applications has recently made large progress toward clinical feasibility. The need for simultaneous compensation of cardiac and breathing motion still poses a challenge for widespread clinical use. Especially, breathing motion, addressed by gating approaches, can lead to unpredictable and long scan times. The current work proposes a time‐efficient self‐gated 4D flow sequence that exploits up to 100% of the acquired data and operates at a predictable scan time. Methods A self‐gated golden‐angle spiral 4D flow sequence was implemented and tested in 10 volunteers. Data were retrospectively binned into respiratory and cardiac states and reconstructed using a conjugate‐gradient sensitivity encoding reconstruction. Net flow curves, stroke volumes, and peak flow in the aorta were evaluated and compared to a conventional Cartesian 4D flow sequence. Additionally, flow quantities reconstructed from 50% to 100% of the self‐gated 4D flow data were compared. Results Self‐gating signals for respiratory and cardiac motion were extracted for all volunteers. Flow quantities were in agreement with the standard Cartesian scan. Mean differences in stroke volumes and peak flow of 7.6 ± 11.5 and 4.0 ± 79.9 mL/s were obtained, respectively. By retrospectively increasing breathing navigator efficiency while decreasing acquisition times (15:06–07:33 minutes), 50% of the acquired data were sufficient to measure stroke volumes with errors under 9.6 mL. Conclusion The feasibility to acquire respiratory and cardiac self‐gated 4D flow data at a predictable scan time was demonstrated. Magn Reson Med 80:904–913, 2018. © 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.