Cardiac MRI with 3D Undersampled Radial Imaging

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DESCRIPTION (provided by candidate): The purpose of this proposal is to provide a means for the applicant, Dana Peters, to develop as an independent scientist and leader in cardiovascular MR using the radial acquisition method. This proposal provides her with two mentors, a cardiologist recognized for his MR contributions, and a MR physicist for his work in cardiovascular research, and support from the Cardiology Division of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The career development plan describes a path by which to obtain the goal of becoming a leader in cardiovascular MR, focusing in the areas of image processing, cardiovascular medicine, and statistics. To date, her focus has been on undersampled radial imaging for fast and high-resolution applications. The research proposal details the development of an undersampled 3D radial (slice-encodings and projections in x-y plane) sequence for cardiac function and viability. This work focuses on the development, refinement, and validation in patient populations of this method. The value of the 3D method is its complete coverage of the heart, for example during a stress test, its completion in a single breath-hold compared to 10 breath holds for the 2D approach, and potentially higher SNR of 3D compared with 2D. First the basic ecg-gated segmented 3D radial method will be refined to remove artifacts due to the radial acquisition, especially in the presence of off-resonance, flow, and SSFP contrast. Then newly developed undersampling artifact reduction techniques will be used to improve image quality of highly undersampled methods. Respiratory gated imaging will also be investigated. For myocardial function, 3D methods will be compared to 2D methods to validate left ventricular mass, volumes, and regional wall thickening values. A T1-weighted single phase viability sequence will be developed. Development will focus on increasing spatial resolution, improving contrast between infarcted and remote myocardium, and reducing artifacts from signal regrowth. The high resolution 3D radial viability technique will be validated in animals, and also used in patients.