Abstract #3580

Pedersen H, Ringgaard S, Kim W, Nehrke K

A novel and fully automated approach for pixel-by-pixel correction of respiratory motion in first-pass MR myocardial perfusion studies is presented. The proposed method uses additionally acquired navigator echoes to divide the image frames into a number of distinct motion states. This, in combination with knowledge of the signal in neighbouring pixels, can be used to remove the respiratory signal contaminations in each pixel. Preliminary results based on examination if eight patients suggest that this technique reduces respiratory motion to a negligible level. This may significantly facilitate pixel-based analysis of first-pass MR myocardial perfusion studies in a clinical setting.