Parallel Imaging for Cardiovascular Applications

INTRODUCTION: The use of parallel imaging for cardiovascular application has become virtually ubiquitous. Substantial progress since the Zurich Parallel Imaging Workshop held in 2004 has led to improved image quality, reduced exam times, and reduced breath-hold duration. Real-time imaging may be used for free-breathing studies and in patients with arrhythmias or heart rate variation. Cardiac MR imaging is challenging due to the simultaneous need for moderately high resolution, ability to image during cardiac and respiratory motion, and relatively low SNR of imaging in the heart at the center of the torso. Parallel imaging offers a means of decreasing acquisition time which offers the user more flexibility to meet these challenges.