FIESTA‐ET: High‐resolution cardiac imaging using echo‐planar steady‐state free precession

Abstract

This work describes a technique that combines multishot echo‐planar imaging (EPI) with steady‐state free precession (SSFP, also known as TrueFISP, FIESTA, and balanced FFE) for multislice, cine MR imaging of the heart. Unlike recently reported methods, the technique presented here (FIESTA‐ET) is high‐resolution and does not require offline reconstruction or postprocessing. It is therefore suitable for use on standard clinical scanners. FIESTA‐ET was compared with conventional FIESTA imaging in 10 volunteers and quantitative analyses of myocardial signal‐to‐noise ratios (SNR) and ventricular volumes were performed. While providing comparable image quality, FIESTA‐ET required half the acquisition time per slice of conventional FIESTA. Because multiple slices could be imaged in a single breathhold, the entire heart could be scanned in less than 2 min. Although the FIESTA‐ET images exhibited an unexpected increase (P < 0.0005) in myocardial SNR of 16% over FIESTA, the volumetric measurements showed excellent correlation. Magn Reson Med 48:934–941, 2002.