Mapping electric bulk conductivity in the human heart.

Purpose: To explore the technical feasibility of mapping the electric bulk conductivity in the human heart, and to determine quantitative conductivity values of myocardium and blood from a small group of volunteers.

Methods: Using a 3T MR system, 6 healthy male volunteers were measured. For all volunteers, a time-resolved 2D sequence over the cardiac cycle was applied (electrocardiogram [ECG]-triggered SSFP acquired in breath-hold). From these data, a dedicated, so-called "2D conductivity" has been derived in the framework of electrical properties tomography (EPT). To validate the concept of 2D conductivity, a static 3D sequence (ECG-triggered and respiratory-gated SSFP 3D whole heart acquisition, allowing the full 3D reconstruction of conductivity) as well as a Q-flow sequence (for investigating the relation between flow and reconstruction errors of the conductivity) have been applied for one of the volunteers.

Results: For both, blood and myocardium, quantitative values of obtained 2D conductivity were approximately two-thirds of the obtained 3D conductivity, as expected from Maxwell's equations. Furthermore, the quantitative conductivity values agreed with corresponding literature values. Conductivity of left-ventricular blood volume showed characteristic over- and under-shooting at specific time points during the cardiac cycle for all volunteers investigated. This over- and under-shooting correlated with the phase pattern caused by blood flow into/out of the ventricle.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated the technical feasibility of cardiac conductivity measurements using standard MR systems and standard MR sequences, and therefore, may open new options for MR-based cardiac diagnosis.