Does a free-breathing, non-ECG MR Multitasking technique provide accurate and repeatable simultaneous myocardial T1, T2, T2*, and fat-fraction mapping compared to reference techniques?
A novel free-breathing, non-ECG MR Multitasking technique allows simultaneous quantification of myocardial T1, T2, T2*, and fat fraction in a single 2.5-minute scan with high accuracy and repeatability.
Purpose To develop a free‐breathing, non‐electrocardiogram technique for simultaneous myocardial T 1 , T 2 , T 2 *, and fat‐fraction (FF) mapping in a single scan. Methods The MR Multitasking framework is adapted to quantify T 1 , T 2 , T 2 *, and FF simultaneously. A variable TR scheme is developed to preserve temporal resolution and imaging efficiency. The underlying high‐dimensional image is modeled as a low‐rank tensor, which allows accelerated acquisition and efficient reconstruction. The accuracy and/or repeatability of the technique were evaluated on static and motion phantoms, 12 healthy volunteers, and 3 patients by comparing to the reference techniques. Results In static and motion phantoms, T 1 /T 2 /T 2 */FF measurements showed substantial consistency ( R > 0.98) and excellent agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient > 0.93) with reference measurements. In human subjects, the proposed technique yielded repeatable T 1 , T 2 , T 2 *, and FF measurements that agreed with those from references. Conclusions The proposed free‐breathing, non‐electrocardiogram, motion‐resolved Multitasking technique allows simultaneous quantification of myocardial T 1 , T 2 , T 2 *, and FF in a single 2.5‐min scan.
Cao et al. (Fri,) studied this question.