Free-running motion-resolved 5D whole-heart anatomical MRI at 3T without contrast agent

Motivation: Routine cardiac function assessment uses breath-held 2D cine imaging. Self-gated free-running sequences have recently been proposed to simplify the workflow. However, at 3T, GRE-based sequences require contrast agents to achieve blood-myocardium contrast. Goal(s): This study introduced a contrast-agent-free acquisition for assessing cardiac anatomy and function at 3T. Approach: Based on an interrupted free-running sequence, the proposed approach integrates T2 preparation and recovery modules to optimize blood-to-myocardium-contrast. A compressed-sensing-based reconstruction was used to generate 5D images of the whole heart. Results: The framework was validated in 11 healthy volunteers, where it demonstrated slightly lower contrast but enabled effective left-ventricle segmentation and exhibited high reproducibility. Impact: The proposed study introduces a contrast-agent-free method for a comprehensive 5D assessment of cardiac anatomy and function at 3T in a 5-minute acquisition. Demonstrating high agreement with the routine method, this approach holds promise for enhancing the overall patient management.