Impact of motion correction on reproducibility and spatial variability of quantitative myocardial T2 mapping

Abstract

BackgroundTo evaluate and quantify the impact of a novel image-based motion correction technique in myocardial T2 mapping in terms of measurement reproducibility and spatial variability.MethodsTwelve healthy adult subjects were imaged using breath-hold (BH), free breathing (FB), and free breathing with respiratory navigator gating (FB + NAV) myocardial T2 mapping sequences. Fifty patients referred for clinical CMR were imaged using the FB + NAV sequence. All sequences used a T2 prepared (T2prep) steady-state free precession acquisition. In-plane myocardial motion was corrected using an adaptive registration of varying contrast-weighted images for improved tissue characterization (ARCTIC). DICE similarity coefficient (DSC) and myocardial boundary errors (MBE) were measured to quantify the motion estimation accuracy in healthy subjects. T2 mapping reproducibility and spatial variability were evaluated in healthy subjects using 5 repetitions of the FB + NAV sequence with either 4 or 20 T2prep echo times (TE). Subjective T2 map quality was assessed in patients by an experienced reader using a 4-point scale (1-non diagnostic, 4-excellent).ResultsARCTIC led to increased DSC in BH data (0.85 ± 0.08 vs. 0.90 ± 0.02, p = 0.007), FB data (0.78 ± 0.13 vs. 0.90 ± 0.21, p < 0.001), and FB + NAV data (0.86 ± 0.05 vs. 0.90 ± 0.02, p = 0.002), and reduced MBE in BH data (0.90 ± 0.40 vs. 0.64 ± 0.19 mm, p = 0.005), FB data (1.21 ± 0.65 vs. 0.63 ± 0.10 mm, p < 0.001), and FB + NAV data (0.81 ± 0.21 vs. 0.63 ± 0.08 mm, p < 0.001). Improved reproducibility (4TE: 5.3 ± 2.5 ms vs. 4.0 ± 1.5 ms, p = 0.016; 20TE: 3.9 ± 2.3 ms vs. 2.2 ± 0.5 ms, p = 0.002), reduced spatial variability (4TE: 12.8 ± 3.5 ms vs. 10.3 ± 2.5 ms, p < 0.001; 20TE: 9.7 ± 3.5 ms vs. 7.5 ± 1.4 ms) and improved subjective score of T2 map quality (3.43 ± 0.79 vs. 3.69 ± 0.55, p < 0.001) were obtained using ARCTIC.ConclusionsThe ARCTIC technique substantially reduces spatial mis-alignment among T2-weighted images and improves the reproducibility and spatial variability of in-vivo T2 mapping.

Effects of a High-Protein Diet Including Whole Eggs on Muscle Composition and Indices of Cardiometabolic Health and Systemic Inflammation in Older Adults with Overweight or Obesity: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Involuntary participant movement or muscle spasms during MRI data acquisition is often the result of peripheral neuromuscular simulation as oscillating magnetic field gradients can stimulate the peripheral nervous system and cause involuntary muscle spasms in healthy adults [ 68 , 69 ]. Therefore, if involuntary movement persists following additional attempts, researchers should determine the appropriate imaging correction techniques to remove motion artifacts [ 70 , 71 ]. Some may also consider the study’s modest weight loss (−3.3%) as a limitation, potentially confounding results.…”

Simultaneous multislice imaging for native myocardial T1 mapping: Improved spatial coverage in a single breath-hold

“…Conventional myocardial T 1 mapping methods acquire only a single slice per breathhold, necessitating rest periods between subsequent breath-holds, leading to patient discomfort and long scan times. Furthermore, repeated breath-holds may compromise image registration (15)(16)(17)(18).…”

Single Breath-Hold Physiotherapy Technique: Effective tool for T2* magnetic resonance imaging in young patients with thalassaemia major

“…16 Breath-holding problems are well documented in adults and it is likely they are more of an issue in children. 17 These problems include an inability to understand and follow instructions for breath-holding, an inability to maintain the breathhold for the whole scan (15-20 seconds) and fear of the procedure. 16 Few studies have been reported on the use of MRI T2* in children and it appears that most centres either use sedation or general anaesthesia for the procedure.…”