Towards Non Contrast Enhanced Myocardial Perfusion Imaging Using Blood Oxygenation Weighted Fast Spin-Echo at 3.0 T

Purpose: In current clinical myocardial perfusion MRI first passage kinetics of a contrast agent bolus are assessed to detect perfusion deficits. Major limitations of these techniques are the need for 1 or 2 R-R interval temporal resolution plus limiting signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), all confining the realizable in-plane resolution to 3–4mm. Perfusion imaging based on BOLD contrast avoids these constraints but requires appropriate T2*-weighting, conventionally realized by echo planar (EPI) or conventional gradient echo imaging techniques (1). Drawbacks here are the image quality…