In self-navigation, cardiac and respiratory information is extracted from the MR signal. ECG and conventional navigator echoes are not required. Conventional navigators disrupt the steady state and add delays. Thus, self-navigation provides a clear advantage. However, ECG is monitored independently of the MR acquisition. Therefore, eliminating the ECG needlessly throws away information. In this study, a hybrid ECG/self-navigated sequence is developed. ECG is used for cardiac triggering. Self-navigation is used for respiratory compensation, and to provide additional cardiac gating. In 10 healthy volunteers, the ECG/self-navigation sequence provided equivalent image quality and quantitative cardiac metrics as a reference breath-hold scan.
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