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CMR at 3.0T in routine clinical practice - tips and tricks to optimise image quality and enhance patient flow
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance volume 17, Article number: T10 (2015)
Background
Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging at 3.0T results in improved signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), however additional challenges arise that affect image quality. Here, we describe frequently encountered artefacts at 3.0T and how to optimise scanning techniques to provide good quality cardiac images.
Methods
Glenfield Hospital (Leicester, UK) performs ~ 2500 CMR scans annually, 700 at 3.0T. These include complex congenital and stress perfusion scans as well as a diverse portfolio of research studies. Image optimisation methods (described below) can prevent or limit general and specific artefacts seen at 3T, improving image quality and patient through-put.
Results
ECG Gating
Retrospective as default
Arrhythmia detection for occasional ectopics
Prospective for frequent ectopics or atrial fibrillation, using short acquisition window
Finger-pulse oximiter when ECG fails
Real-time for poor ECG and poor breath-holding
Alter Breath-hold duration
Increasing parallel-imaging factors (up to x 4 routinely) will reduce breath-hold with minimal impact on SSFP quality
Reduce spatial resolution - small reductions in phase resolution will significantly reduce breath-hold
Increasing the echo train/segments shorten breath-hold, with slight decrease in temporal resolution
Increase the number of averages(3-5) for free-breathing cine images in sedated/deaf subjects
Utilise increased SNR to acquire 2 slices per breath-hold in good breath holders to shorten exam time
Sequence-specific cardiac shim
CMR at 3.0T requires careful, targeted shimming to significantly improve image quality for SSFP cine, T1-mapping and myocardial nulling on late gadolinium enhanced images.
Off resonance artefacts
Frequently occur at 3.0T on SSFP images; adjusting the radiofrequency pulse frequency offset can shift artefacts away from the area of interest. (Figure 1)
Flow artefact on SSFP images
Switching to gradient echo with no flow compensation together with tight shimming reduces the appearance of flow artefacts within vessels. (Figure 2)
Perfusion imaging
Increased SNR results in improved spatial resolution for single shot acquisition. Reduce phase resolution to decrease TR and maintain single beat acquisition for high heart rates (>115bpm)
T1-mapping
Ensure proper adjustment of shim and center frequency to minimize off resonance Routinely isocenter. Use large field-of-view (~400mm) and consider motion-corrected or shortened T1-mapping sequence (ShMOLLI) if available, to minimize breathing artefacts
Conclusions
Good quality CMR images at 3.0T are achievable with adapted scanning techniques and meticulous image optimisation. This improves the diagnostic value of acquired images, minimises scanning time and therefore improves subject experience and throughput in the clinical setting.
Funding
N/A.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
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Wormleighton, J., Parke, K., Carlton, J. et al. CMR at 3.0T in routine clinical practice - tips and tricks to optimise image quality and enhance patient flow. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 17 (Suppl 1), T10 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/1532-429X-17-S1-T10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1532-429X-17-S1-T10
Keywords
- Cardiac Magnetic Resonance
- Improve Image Quality
- Resonance Artefact
- Flow Artefact
- Affect Image Quality