Andrea J Wiethoff

John J Totman

Marcus R Makowski

René M Botnar

Sergio Arancibia

Tobias Schaeffter

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Acceleration of whole heart and targeted coronary artery imaging at 3 T with a 32-channel coil

BioMed Central
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic 
Resonance
ssOpen AccePoster presentation
Acceleration of whole heart and targeted coronary artery 
imaging at 3 T with a 32-channel coil
Andrea J Wiethoff*, John J Totman, Marcus R Makowski, Sergio A 
Uribe Arancibia, Tobias Schaeffter and René M Botnar
Address: Kings College London, London, UK
* Corresponding author    
Introduction
Although great technical advances have been made in cor-
onary MRA, long scan times have played a part in the slow
translation to routine clinical practice. The recent advent
of array coil technology with high numbers of elements
allows for higher SENSE factors, which lowers scanning
time to a more acceptable level [1,2]. The trade-off of
higher acceleration is lower SNR, which can be mediated
by going to a higher field strength. Previous studies have
investigated the use of a 32-channel coil at 1.5 T [1,2],
however, only recently has this technology become avail-
able at 3 T.
Purpose
In this study we investigated whether the reduced scan
time achieved with a new 32-channel vs. a 6-channel car-
diac coil provided improved coronary artery image quality
at 3 T for both whole heart and targeted imaging proto-
cols.
Methods
Ten healthy volunteers were scanned in supine position
on a 3 T MRI scanner equipped with a 6-channel and a 32-
channel cardiac coil (Philips Healthcare, Best, NL). After
localization scans, 3D fast segmented gradient echo
sequences were performed. Parameters for the targeted
sequences included TR/TE = 5.5/1.59 ms, fa = 20°, and a
resolution of 1 × 1 × 3 mm3. For the transverse whole-
heart scan, the resolution was 1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 mm3 with a
TR/TE = 4.1/1.16 ms and fa = 20°. The acceleration factor
was increased with the 32-channel coil from 2 to 2.4 for
the targeted scans and from 2 to 4 for the whole-heart
sequence. Objective values of SNR, CNR and vessel sharp-
ness for the right and left coronary artery systems were
determined for all scans. A subjective quality score was
assessed by a blinded, expert reviewer.
Results
The scan time (without navigation) for the whole-heart
sequence was ∼ 4 min and ∼ 2 min for the 6- and 32-chan-
nel coils, and ∼ 1:45 min and ∼ 1:15 min for the targeted
scans, respectively. The objective and subjective image
qualities were overall similar for both the whole heart and
targeted imaging approaches (Table 1). There was very lit-
tle difference in vessel sharpness, CNR and image quality
when comparing the whole-heart images from the 32- and
6-channel coils despite almost halving the scan time. The
from 13th Annual SCMR Scientific Sessions
Phoenix, AZ, USA. 21-24 January 2010
Published: 21 January 2010
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance 2010, 12(Suppl 1):P54 doi:10.1186/1532-429X-12-S1-P54
<supplement> <title> <p>Abstracts of the 13<sup>th </sup>Annual SCMR Scientific Sessions - 2010</p> </title> <note>Meeting abstracts - A single PDF containing all abstracts in this Supplement is available <a href="http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/files/pdf/1532-429X-11-S1-full.pdf">here</a>.</note> <url>http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/files/pdf/1532-429X-11-S1-info</url> </supplement>
This abstract is available from: http://jcmr-online.com/content/12/S1/P54
© 2010 Wiethoff et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 
Left coronary scan with the 6-channel (A) and 32-channel (B) coilsFigure 1
Left coronary scan with the 6-channel (A) and 32-
channel (B) coils.Page 1 of 2
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same general trend was seen with the targeted scans. Fig-
ure 1 shows representative images.
Conclusion
The combination of a 32-channel cardiac coil and 3 T
allows the possibility of high quality coronary artery
imaging in less than five minutes making it more attrac-
tive for widespread clinical use.
References
1. Nehrke K: JMRI 2006, 23:752-756.
2. Niendorf T: 2006, 56:167-76.
Table 1: 
32-channel 6-channel
Targeted Whole-heart Targeted Whole-heart
Vessel length RCA 90 ± 27 94 ± 28 95 ± 29 98 ± 30
LM + LAD 62 ± 12 52 ± 15 56 ± 7 52 ± 15
Vessel diameter RCA 3.1 ± 0.3 3.5 ± 0.3 3.0 ± 0.2 3.6 ± 0.4
LM + LAD 2.7 ± 0.2 3.2 ± 0.5 2.7 ± 0.2 3.2 ± 0.4
Vessel sharpness RCA 0.43 ± 0.04 0.55 ± 0.05 0.42 ± 0.06 0.51 ± 0.05
LM + LAD 0.37 ± 0.04 0.52 ± 0.07 0.37 ± 0.06 0.48 ± 0.06
SNR muscle RCA 16 ± 8 12 ± 5 17 ± 6 16 ± 6
LM + LAD 14 ± 4 14 ± 5 14 ± 5 14 ± 6
SNR blood RCA 32 ± 15 23 ± 11 33 ± 10 29 ± 8
LM + LAD 31 ± 11 30 ± 9 31 ± 11 26 ± 11
CNR RCA 16 ± 8 12 ± 7 16 ± 4 12 ± 3
LM + LAD 17 ± 7 12 ± 4 17 ± 6 12 ± 5
Image quality RCA 3.0 ± 0.0 2.6 ± 0.5 2.9 ± 0.8 2.9 ± 0.6
LM + LAD 2.6 ± 0.7 2.8 ± 0.7 2.8 ± 0.7 2,6 ± 0.7Page 2 of 2
(page number not for citation purposes)


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Acceleration of whole heart and targeted coronary artery imaging at 3 T with a 32-channel coil

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