Myocardial perfusion studies using magnetic resonance imaging
AssigneeSiemens Medical Systems, Inc.
InventorOrlando P. Simonetti
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Abstract
Gadolinium-based MR contrast agent is administered to a patient. Acquisition of MR data begins at the latest when the bolus of MR contrast agent reaches the patient's heart and continues throughout the first-pass of contrast agent through the coronary circulation. Advantageously, the acquisition is carried out using a T1-weighted, three-dimensional gradient echo sequence that is synchronized to the patient's cardiac cycle to acquire MR data only during diastole, and a T1-weighting magnetization preparation such as inversion-recovery or saturation-recovery is used.
Claims11
A method of conducting a myocardial perfusion study on a living patient using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, comprising the following steps:
- administering a bolus of an MR contrast agent to the patient's circulatory system;
- determining a time interval when the bolus makes its first pass through the patient's heart;
- acquiring, during said time interval, three-dimensional MR image data of the heart, said acquiring step being gated to the patient's cardiac cycle, acquiring MR image data only during diastole, and producing MR data with high spatial resolution.
A method of carrying out a myocardial perfusion study on a living patient using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, comprising the following steps:
- administering a bolus of an MR contrast agent to the patient's circulatory system;
- and
- acquiring MR image data while the bolus is making its first pass through the patient's heart, said acquiring step being synchronized with the patient's cardiac cycle and comprising the steps of
- emphasizing T1-weighting of the MR signal from the myocardium,
- acquiring, during diastole in each of a series of cardiac cycles and using a T1-weighted three-dimensional MR pulse sequence, lines of MR data from the patient's heart, and
- repeating said emphasizing and line-acquiring steps until sufficient MR data has been collected to enable reconstruction of a high spatial resolution image of the heart.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.