Highly-efficient free-breathing 3D whole-heart joint T1/T2 mapping and water/fat imaging at 0.55T

Motivation: Myocardial T1 and T2 mapping has emerged as a useful clinical tool for the diagnosis of different heart disease. However, current mapping sequences were mostly developed with 2D breathhold acquisitions and validated at 1.5T or 3T. The investigation of myocardial mapping techniques on more affordable low-field MRI systems is scarce. Goal(s): To develop a highly-efficient free-breathing 3D whole-heart joint T1/T2 mapping sequence with isotropic-resolution at 0.55T. Approach: The proposed sequence acquires 3 interleaved volumes for joint T1/T2 estimation and water/fat separation. Results: The proposed sequence shows good agreement with spin-echo reference in phantom and provides comparable results in-vivo with conventional 2D mapping sequences. Impact: The proposed sequence enables comprehensive 3D joint T1/T2 mapping and water/fat anatomical evaluation of the whole-heart with 2mm isotropic-resolution at 0.55T during a fast free-breathing scan and thus shows promise for the detection of different cardiac diseases.