Comparison of four magnetization preparation schemes to improve blood-wall contrast in cine short-axis cardiac imaging

Improvements in short-axis blood-myocardium contrast in the heart with the use of four magnetization preparation schemes applied before the imaging sequence are demonstrated. Gradient-echo cine cardiac images are acquired and compared at 0.95 T incorporating T₂, T_1p, magnetization transfer, and double inversion (black blood) preparations in a series of volunteer studies over the first 550 ms of the cardiac cycle. T₂ and T_1p preparations exhibit improvements of 100% and above in image contrast. Magnetization transfer preparation exhibits improvements of 50% in image contrast, whereas an initial improvement (50%) followed by a large loss in contrast is observed using the black blood preparation. Improvements in contrast are dependent on tissue relaxation parameters and therefore are suitable for studies involving patients exhibiting poor in-flow enhancement of blood caused by poor heart function.