Perfusion MRI with radial acquisition for arterial input function assessment

Quantification of myocardial perfusion critically depends on accurate arterial input function (AIF) and tissue enhancement curves (TECs). Except at low doses, the AIF is inaccurate because of the long saturation recovery time (SRT) of the pulse sequence. The choice of dose and SRT involves a trade-off between the accuracy of the AIF and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the TEC. Recent methods to resolve this trade-off are based on the acquisition of two data sets: one to accurately estimate the AIF, and one to find the high-SNR TEC. With radial k-space sampling, a set of images with varied SRTs can be reconstructed from the same data set, allowing an accurate assessment of the AIF and TECs, and their conversion to contrast agent (CA) concentration. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a radial acquisition for quantitative myocardial perfusion imaging. Magn Reson Med 57:821–827, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.