Comparison of different cardic MRI sequences at 1.5 and 3T in respect of image quality, signal- and contrast-to-noise ratios: initial experience

Purpose: To compare image quality, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) of different cardiac MRI sequences for tissue characterization and functional analysis at 1.5 T and 3.0 T in volunteers. Method and materials: 10 volunteers were examined on a 3.0 T Signa and 1.5 Tesla Signa TwinSpeed (both GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI, USA) using a 4-element phased array surface coil (same design) at the same day on both scanners. For tissue characterization ECG gated black-blood T1- (Double-IR), STIR-T1- (Tripple-IR) and T2-weighted spinecho (SE) sequences in transverse orientation through the…