Temporal interpolation of real-time cine images for ventricular function assessment

Background In uncooperative patients or in presence of arrhythmia, real-time free-breathing cine MR approaches may offer an alternative to well-established segmented data acquisition strategies [1,2]. Segmented acquisition strategies collect data throughout a number of heartbeats and typically a fixed number of cardiac phases are reconstructed for each slice representing an average RR interval. In real-time cine imaging, the number of reconstructed phases may be different for each slice due to heart rate variations. However, it is desirable to reconstruct a predefined number of cardiac phases per slice to facilitate functional analysis and processing. In this work, we present an image reconstruction approach that retrospectively interpolates real-time cine images to calculate a predefined number of cardiac phases per heartbeat and slice. Ejection fraction is compared between segmented cine images and interpolated realtime cine images in healthy volunteers.