Cardiac MRI frequently relies on balanced stead-state free precession (bSSFP) for its beneficial contrast and SNR efficiency. Simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) imaging, specifically blipped controlled aliasing in parallel imaging, faces two major challenges with cardiac bSSFP: 1) artifacts from non-uniform signal in the through-slice direction and 2) spuriously excited side-lobes from imperfect multi-band excitation. We carefully evaluate both challenges using simulations and phantom experiments, and demonstrate practical SMS bSSFP imaging with 3-slice coverage (apical, mid, and basal short axis slices) at 3 Tesla, with good image quality in both transient-state and steady-state.
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