Diffusion tensor cardiovascular magnetic resonance with monopolar spin-echo at ultra-high gradient strength Connectom scanner

Motivation: Spin-echo (SE) diffusion tensor cardiovascular magnetic resonance (DT-CMR) imaging with monopolar diffusion encoding scheme is limited by bulk motion induced signal loss. Goal(s): Utilization of ultrahigh gradient-strengths to substantially reduce the echo-time (TE) in monopolar SE DT-CMR. Approach: A monopolar SE DT-CMR pulse-sequence was developed. An in-vivo study at ultra-high gradient-strength (180mT/m, Connectom scanner) for diastolic cardiac phases was conducted. Results: With ultra-high gradient strength, it was possible to obtain reasonable DT-CMR data with monopolar SE in 60% of subjects. To our knowledge this is the first report of SE DT-CMR with monopolar diffusion encoding utilizing the ultra-high gradient-strength of the Connectom scanner. Impact: The ability to acquire monopolar SE using ultra-high diffusion gradient strengths and the associated drastic reductions in TE may provide substantial increase in imaging efficiency for DT-CMR acquired in diastolic cardiac phases, a key step towards clinical translation.