Simultaneous T1 and T2 quantification of the myocardium using cardiac balanced-SSFP inversion recovery with interleaved sampling acquisition (CABIRIA)

Abstract

Purpose: To develop a novel sequence for simultaneous quantification of T1 and T2 relaxation times in the myocardium based on the transient phase of the balanced steady-state free precession.

Methods: A new prototype sequence, named "cardiac balanced-SSFP inversion recovery with interleaved sampling acquisition" (CABIRIA) was developed based on a single-shot bSSFP readout following an inversion pulse. With this method, T1 and T2 values can be calculated from the analysis of signal evolution. The scan duration for a single slice in vivo was 8 heartbeats, thus feasible in a breath-hold. The sequence was validated both in vitro by comparing it to conventional inversion recovery and multi-echo spin-echo methods and in 5 healthy volunteers by comparing it to the Modified Look-Locker Inversion Recovery (MOLLI) sequence and to a T2 quantification sequence based on multi-T2 -prepared bSSFP.

Results: The method showed good agreement with conventional methods for both T1 and T2 measurements (concordance correlation coefficient ≥ 0.99) in vitro. In healthy volunteers the measured T1 values were 1227 ± 68 ms and T2 values 37.9 ± 2.4 ms, with similar inter- and intrasubject variability with respect to existing methods.

Conclusion: The proposed CABIRIA method enables simultaneous quantification of myocardial T1 and T2 values with good accuracy and precision.

Keywords: balanced steady-state free precession; cardiac MRI; cardiac relaxometry; inversion recovery.