Clinical Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance in a Third of the Time Through Robust Simultaneous Multi-Slice Parallel Imaging Technology

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Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging, also known as a cardiac MRI, allows images to be captured of the beating heart. This can provide different types of information about the heart’s function, including any changes to structure or potential damage from something such as a heart attack. CMR is widely used to diagnose heart diseases but also guides the best treatment for patients and shows how treatment is working.

Whilst CMR does not use x-rays and is therefore very safe and can be repeated regularly, the scans themselves are slow. This is because hundreds of images are collected in every scanning session to provide different information about the heart. They also require patients to hold their breath typically around 60 times during each scan. Not only is this a long process for the patient themselves, but it also limits how many CMR scans can feasibly be performed each day. MRI scanners are expensive and there are limited numbers available for the many patients who may benefit from a CMR scan. In order to increase patient comfort and enable as many patients as possible to get CMR scans when they need them, the scans need to be faster.

New CMR technologies have recently become available which allow several images to be collected at the same time. These are called Simultaneous Multi-Slice (SMS) techniques. SMS could shorten the scan time by 3 times or even more. SMS imaging is already used widely to image the brain but have yet to work correctly for the heart due to its smaller size, which currently leads to blurry and distorted images.

The team at Imperial College London, led by Dr Nielles-Vallespin, believe that advanced SMS methods specifically designed for the heart can avoid current imaging challenges and at the same time greatly shorten the time that the patient spends in the scanner.

Initial tests using these advanced methods have shown promising results. This project will therefore develop SMS techniques for the heart, with the potential to make patient scans three times faster. This will make CMR scans much easier on patients, especially children, who may struggle to endure the full duration normally. It will also increase access to these scans, meaning more people will be able to get CMR scans when they need them.