Sodium MRI can act as a biomarker for heart tissue
viability. However, several aspects (blurring behavior of
non-Cartesian ultra-short echo time sequences, blurring because of heart motion,
small myocardial infarction (MI) regions) complicate MI detection due to
resolution reasons. Optimal sequence
parameters are difficult to find since many subject parameters (e.g.,
relaxation times, heart motion) must be considered. The presented
simulation model of a beating heart can be used to optimize sequence
parameters, among other things, for better visualization of MI and can be
adapted to any kind of motion and to different subject/physiological
parameters.
