Free–breathing SASHA (fbSASHA) for accurate whole-heart T1 measurement

Motivation: Conventional SASHA T1 mapping requires breath- holding coordination. Goal(s): To obtain whole-heart covered T1 maps under free-breathing state. Approach: SASHA protocol was extended by introducing respiratory sync via slice tracking technique and acquisition in an interleaved manner for free-breathing pattern. Results: Free-breathing SASHA and breath-hold SASHA demonstrated excellent T1 measurement consistency and comparable image quality. Impact: The proposed free-breathing SASHA sequence (fbSASHA) is capable of eliminating the impact of patients' cooperation in breath-holding. Additionally, it offers whole-heart coverage field-of-view, facilitating superior detection of focal myocardial lesions.