SAR-Efficient 3D Cardiac CINE with Respiratory-Triggered RF Gating

Markus Henningsson¹, Beth Goddu², Lois Goepfert², Kraig V. Kissinger², Raymond H. Chan², Reza Razavi¹, Rene M. Botnar¹, Tobias Schaeffter¹, Reza Nezafat²

3D CINE MRI provides functional volumetric coverage of the heart, however problems associated with this approach are poor contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and high specific absorption rate (SAR). Therefore, 2D CINE is preferred in clinical practice. Here we address the problems associated with 3D CINE by gating the radiofrequency pulses using an external respiratory sensor (bellows) to coincide with the image data acquisition. We evaluate this approach in 5 healthy volunteers. The results show a 50% lower SAR and higher CNR and signal-to-noise ratio, comparable to 2D CINE, as switching off the RF allows for T1 recovery of the tissue.