Minimizing Dark-Rim Artifacts in First-Pass Myocardial Perfusion MR by Eliminating Gibbs Ringing Using Projection Imaging

Behzad Sharif¹, Rohan Dharmakumar¹, Troy LaBounty¹, Chrisandra Shufelt², Louise EJ Thomson², Noel Bairey Merz², Daniel S. Berman², Debiao Li¹

A major limitation for first-pass perfusion myocardial MRI is the presence of the so-called dark rim artifacts (DRAs), which may confound interpretation and diagnosis of subendocardial perfusion defects. A major cause of DRAs is known to be Gibbs ringing along the subendocardial border. In this work we demonstrate that projection imaging significantly reduces the prevalence and spatial extent of subendocardial DRAs in first-pass perfusion imaging, compared to conventional Cartesian techniques.