Investigating SMS in dynamic MR for Free-Breathing Functional Lung Imaging

Motivation: Pulmonary functional imaging is critical for diagnosing lung diseases. However, sequential acquisition of multiple slices hinder the investigation of concurrent breathing dynamics while prolonging the overall the acquisition time. Goal(s): Our goal is to investigate the use of simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) imaging as an alternative approach for accelerating dynamic acquisitions for functional lung imaging. Approach: We obtained dynamic images using bSSFP and GRE acquisitions at 1.5T, from two healthy volunteers. Afterwards, registered images were analyzed using dynamic mode decomposition to generate pulmonary ventilation and perfusion maps. Results: Functional maps were obtained using both pulse sequences with SMS in both sagittal and coronal views. Impact: Dynamic lung imaging often requires multiple slices for volumetric coverage, which can be time-consuming. Simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) technique enables the acquisition of multiple slices at the same time, thus enabling the observation of concurrent breathing dynamics in an efficient manner.