Xiangzhi Zhou1, Sven Zuehlsdorff2, Saurabh Shah2, Richard Tang1, Rachel Klein1, Debiao Li1, Rohan Dharmakumar1
1Department of Radiology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA; 2Siemens MED US, Chicago, IL, USA
Myocardial BOLD imaging may be a useful method for evaluating the microcirculatory oxygenation changes resulting from coronary artery stenosis. This work investigates the utility of 3D cine SSFP BOLD imaging for identifying regional myocardial oxygenation changes throughout the left ventricle using a canine model with controllable coronary stenosis. The findings from this study show that 3D SSFP BOLD imaging may be a viable method for assessing regional changes in myocardial oxygenation within the left ventricle. Additional technical improvements are likely necessary to fully explore the benefits of 3D SSFP imaging in the clinical environment.