Multiparametric 3D cardiac MR for simultaneous bright- and black-blood imaging and joint T1/T2 myocardial tissue mapping

Accurate diagnosis of cardiac disease requires imaging with high spatial resolution and whole-heart coverage. Current clinical protocols acquire contrasts sequentially, in different 2D orientations during several breath-holds leading to long examination times and misregistration artifacts. To address these limitations, we present a novel free-breathing four-heartbeat sequence for simultaneous 3D whole-heart Assessment of Cardiovascular anaTomy via bright- and black-blood Imaging and T1/T2 myocardial tissue quantificatiON (ACTION). Sequence parameters are optimized with Bloch simulations to enhance the mapping sensitivity and to improve the quality of anatomical images. Primarily results in a standardized phantom and in-vivo show potential for comprehensive heart disease detection.