Accelerated free-breathing 3D whole-heart magnetic resonance angiography with a radial phyllotaxis trajectory, compressed sensing, and curvelet transform

Purpose: To develop and validate an accelerated free-breathing 3D whole-heart magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) technique using a radial k-space trajectory with compressed sensing and curvelet transform. Method: A 3D radial phyllotaxis trajectory was implemented to traverse the centerline of k-space immediately before the segmented whole-heart MRA data acquisition at each cardiac cycle. The k-space centerlines were used to correct the respiratory-induced heart motion in the acquired MRA data. The corrected MRA data were then reconstructed by a novel compressed sensing algorithm using curvelets as the sparsifying domain. The proposed 3D whole-heart MRA technique (radial CS curvelet) was then prospectively validated against compressed sensing with a conventional wavelet transform (radial CS wavelet) and a standard Cartesian acquisition in terms of scan time and border sharpness. Results: Fifteen patients (females 10, median age 34-year-old) underwent 3D whole-heart MRA imaging using a standard Cartesian trajectory and our proposed radial phyllotaxis trajectory. Scan time for radial phyllotaxis was significantly shorter than Cartesian (4.88 +/- 0.86 min. vs. 6.84 +/- 1.79 min., P-value = 0.004). Radial CS curvelet border sharpness was slightly lower than Cartesian and, for the majority of vessels, was significantly better than radial CS wavelet (P-value < 0.050). Conclusion: The proposed technique of 3D whole-heart MRA acquisition with a radial CS curvelet has a shorter scan time and slightly lower vessel sharpness compared to the Cartesian acquisition with radial profile ordering, and has slightly better sharpness than radial CS wavelet. Future work on this technique includes additional clinical trials and extending this technique to 3D cine imaging.

Automated summary

The proposed 3D whole-heart MRA technique with radial CS curvelet has a shorter scan time compared to standard Cartesian acquisition, and slightly lower vessel sharpness but significantly better in most vessels than radial CS wavelet.