Abstract #4558

Optimized Three Dimensional Sodium Imaging of the Human Heart on a Clinical 3T Scanner

Neville D. Gai¹, Carlos Rochitte², Marcelo Nacif³, David A. Bluemke¹

¹Radiology & Imaging Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States; ²Heart Institute - InCor - University of So Paulo Medical School, So Paulo, SP, Brazil; ³Radiology Department of Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niteri, RJ, Brazil

Sodium imaging provides a direct window into cell viability. In the heart, tissue viability after an ischemic event is an important determinant in the decision to intervene with corrective measures. Sodium MRI of the heart is challenging due to extremely poor SNR and motion artifacts. In this work, we explore a 3D stack of spirals trajectory for imaging the entire human heart on a clinical 3T scanner. Optimization of sequence parameters based on Bloch simulations (and factors affecting the point spread function) makes sodium imaging the entire heart possible within a reasonable scan time (< 8 min).