Daniel A. Herzka1, Elliot R. McVeigh1, S. Laurence Lee1, Peter Kellman2, Robert J. Lederman3, J. Andrew Derbyshire3
1Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; 2Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics, NHLBI, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA; 3Translational Medicine Branch, NHLBI, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA
Self-navigation has recently become an alternative to breath-holding or respiratory navigators for cardiac imaging. Here, we present a balanced SSFP-based fast imaging sequence that acquires imaging data along with a constant navigator projection every TR. The navigator projection angle is independent of readout orientation. The sequence was used to acquire free-breathing cine loops in both short and long axis views in normal subjects. TR ranged from 5.3-5.9ms using hardware optimized gradient waveforms and partial Fourier imaging. Acquisition efficiency per TR was maintained relative to single-echo SSFP. The sequence has possible clinical application whenever breath-holds are not possible or unfeasibly long.