Martin Ugander1, Hui Xue2, Jens
Guehring3, Saurabh Shah4, Li-Yueh Hsu1,
Andrew E. Arai1, Peter Kellman1
1National Heart, Lung &
Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States; 2Siemens
Corporate Research, Princeton, NJ, United States; 3Siemens AG
Healthcare Sector, Erlangen, Germany; 4Siemens Medical Solutions,
Chicago, IL, United States
T1 mapping is emerging as a tool for quantitative assessment of myocardial disease. Quantitative T1 mapping can be undertaken using a Modified Look-Locker Inversion-recovery (MOLLI) sequence. We developed a fully automated motion-correction algorithm for MOLLI images. In 649 paired image comparisons from 178 patients, automated T1 map image quality following motion correction was assessed by a physician as unchanged in 91.8% of cases, improved in 7.6% of cases and worsened in 0.6% of cases. Automated motion correction in MOLLI imaging improves the image quality of both pre-contrast and post-contrast T1 maps of the heart in clinical patients.