Yutaka Natsuaki1,
Randall Kroeker2, J. Paul Finn3, Peter Schmitt4,
Gerhard Laub5
1Siemens
Healthcare, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 2Siemens Healthcare,
Winnipeg, MB, Canada; 3Radiology, University of California Los
Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; 4Siemens AG Healthcare,
Erlangen, Germany; 5Siemens Healthcare, San Francisco, CA, United
States
Contrast-enhanced MR angiography (ceMRA) is typically performed without ECG gating, and in cardiothoracic applications, cardiac motion may result in varying degrees of blurring. To alleviate the motion blurring, ECG gating with segmented acquisition (gated ceMRA) can be utilized. However, conventional gated ceMRA is limited by its acquisition inefficiency with the rigid triggered segments, and its spatial resolution and coverage are insufficient. The current work introduces the flexible triggered segmentation, a novel approach that drastically improves scan time efficiency, allows timing flexibility, and enables full-coverage high-resolution gated ceMRA within a single breath hold.