Fast and fully automatic calibration of frequency offset for balanced steady-state free precession cardiovascular magnetic resonance at 3.0 Tesla
Journal
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
Journal Volume
15
Journal Issue
1
Date Issued
2013
Author(s)
Abstract
Background: This study proposed a fast and fully automatic calibration system to suppress the dark banding artifacts in balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) at 3.0 T. Methods. Twenty-one healthy volunteers (18 men, 3 women; mean age 24.9 years) participated in this study after providing institutionally approved consent. The optimal frequency was obtained using sweep scans of transition-band low flip-angle bSSFP (bSSFP-L), performed with three conditions: breath-hold plus electrocardiography (ECG) triggering (BH + ECG), breath-hold only (BH), and free breathing (FB). A real-time feedback system was implemented to allow the performing of bSSFP-L calibration scanning and conventional cine bSSFP within one breath-hold. For each scan condition, the optimal phase was estimated using 20-point and 10-point spline fitting. Results: Linear regression analysis indicated high correlation between the optimal phases obtained using BH and FB and those obtained using BH + ECG (R§ssup§2§esup§ = 0.91 to 0.98, n = 21). The optimal phases obtained using 10-point datasets showed high correlation with the 20-point BH + ECG datasets (R§ssup§2§ esup§ = 0.92 to 0.99, n = 21); although the within-subject coefficient of variation (wsCV) was larger using 10-point fitting. The variation of repeated measurements was largest with FB acquisition and smallest with BH + ECG acquisition. The optimal frequency obtained by offline calculation and by real-time feedback calibration significantly reduced dark-band artifacts in cine bSSFP images (both p <.01). Conclusions: The proposed real-time feedback calibration method for bSSFP imaging is rapid and fully automatic. This method could greatly reduce dark-band artifacts in bSSFP images and facilitate clinical CMR at 3.0 T. ? 2013 Tang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
SDGs
Other Subjects
adult; article; artifact; automation; balanced steady state free precession; breath holding; breathing; calibration; cardiovascular magnetic resonance; electrocardiography; female; free breathing; human; image analysis; image processing; in vivo study; male; normal human; priority journal; radiological parameters; steady state; anatomy and histology; calibration; cardiac gated imaging; computer assisted diagnosis; feedback system; heart; heart rate; nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; physiology; predictive value; reference value; reproducibility; standards; time; validation study; young adult; Adult; Artifacts; Automation; Breath Holding; Calibration; Cardiac-Gated Imaging Techniques; Electrocardiography; Feedback; Female; Healthy Volunteers; Heart; Heart Rate; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Cine; Male; Predictive Value of Tests; Reference Values; Reproducibility of Results; Time Factors; Young Adult
Type
journal article