Time-efficient simultaneous fat and water cardiac cine imaging using spiral magnetic resonance imaging

The proposed method to obtain W/F separated cine images provides better temporal efficiency and fewer artifacts compared to conventional Cartesian bSSFP sequences. The 2-TE bSSFP features the highest artifact level, including susceptibility artifacts and fat/water swaps. The proposed method reduces scan time by approximately 50% with similar spatial and temporal resolution with lower specific absorption rate (SAR). The contrast between the blood pool and myocardium is higher when using the spiral readout (p≤0.05). The results suggest that the presented sequence has potential to facilitate simultaneous imaging for water and fat components in a cine scan while shortening exam time and lowering SAR.