Cardiac magnetic resonance T1 and extracellular volume mapping with motion correction and co-registration based on fast elastic image registration

Objective Our aim was to investigate the technical feasibility of a novel motion compensation method for cardiac magntic resonance (MR) T1 and extracellular volume fraction (ECV) mapping. Materials and methods Native and post-contrast T1 maps were obtained using modified look-locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) pulse sequences with acquisition scheme defined in seconds. A nonrigid, nonparametric, fast elastic registration method was applied to generate motion-corrected T1 maps and subsequently ECV maps. Qualitative rating was performed based on T1 fitting-error maps and overlay images. Local deformation vector fields were produced for quantitative assessment. Intra- and inter-observer reproducibility were compared with and without motion compensation. Results Eighty-two T1 and 39 ECV maps were obtained in 21 patients with diverse myocardial diseases. Approximately 60% demonstrated clear quality improvement after motion correction for T1 mapping, particularly for the poor-rating cases (23% before vs 2% after). Approximately 67% showed further improvement with co-registration in ECV mapping. Although T1 and ECV values were not clinically significantly different before and after motion compensation, there was improved intra- and inter-observer reproducibility after motion compensation. Conclusions Automated motion correction and co-registration improved the qualitative assessment and reproducibility of cardiac MR T1 and ECV measurements, allowing for more reliable ECV mapping.