Characterization of Modified Look Locker (MOLLI) using Bloch Simulations & Corroboration with Scan Measurements

Neville D. Gai¹, Christian Stehning², Marcelo Nacif¹, David A. Bluemke^1,3

The MOLLI technique for T1 mapping has found favor in cardiac imaging due to its relative robustness to motion. A subsequent work explored optimization of parameters based purely on performing phantom scans while varying scan parameters. Such an approach could fail to be comprehensive in the covered parameter space or parameters affecting accuracy. Here, we develop Bloch simulation based characterization of MOLLI and evaluate T1 accuracy for several scan parameters. We corroborate T1 values obtained from simulation with values obtained from scanning phantoms. Based on simulations and scanning, it is shown that the simulation is a valuable tool in understanding the accuracy of T1 values given different scan conditions.