Advances in coronary MRA from vessel wall to whole heart imaging.

Since its introduction, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has undergone continued technical and methodological development and found numerous practical clinical applications. Cardiac MR imaging is one of the more sophisticated applications of MR, owing to the inherent presence of flow and motion and specific anatomy. Among the different categories of cardiac MR imaging, coronary MR angiography (MRA) places particularly high demands on planning, spatial resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and precise cardiac and respiratory motion correction.

MR coronary artery imaging with 3D motion adapted gating (MAG) in comparison to a standard prospective navigator technique.

Magnetic resonance coronary angiography (MRCA) has been proven to be feasible for imaging of the proximal and medial portions of the three main coronary arteries. Free breathing techniques allow for high resolution imaging but prolong scan time. This could potentially be shortened by improving the efficiency, robustness and accuracy of the navigator gating algorithm.

Image-based tracking of optically detunable parallel resonant circuits.

In this work strategies for the robust localization of parallel resonant circuits are investigated. These strategies are based on the subtraction of two images, which ideally differ in signal intensity at the positions of the devices only. To modulate their signal amplification, and thereby generate the local variations, the parallel resonant circuits are alternately detuned and retuned during the acquisition.

Combined high-resolution and real-time imaging: a technical feasibility study on coronary magnetic resonance angiography.

Purpose: To propose a new approach to combining high-resolution and real-time imaging and to show its technical feasibility on the example of coronary magnetic resonance angiography.

Materials And Methods: The insertion of fast two-dimensional (2D) acquisitions into time intervals that have not been utilized by triggered or gated 2D or three-dimensional (3D) acquisitions so far is suggested, as well as the immediate reconstruction and display of the additional data. For a technical validation of this concept, a 2D ventricular function protocol was interleaved into a cardiac-triggered and respiratory-gated 3D coronary angiography protocol.