Doubled Scan Efficiency in Multi-slice Real-time Cine TrueFISP Cardiac Imaging by Pseudo-Continuous Sliding Slice Acquisition

Introduction: Real-time TrueFisp cardiac imaging allows multiple slice cine acquisitions within a single breathhold. Typically, the steady state preparation is established utilizing a full heartbeat per slice. Hence, only every other heartbeat is used to collect data. A simple elimination of the preparation heartbeats to increase scan efficiency compromises the contrast between blood and myocardium and signal dynamics for the first few cardiac phases. This work presents a novel method that shifts the slice position between consecutive phases by a distance small compared to slice thickness. High contrast is maintained throughout all cardiac phases providing whole heart coverage within a single breathhold. This approach was compared to to a clinically established real-time cine protocol with and without dummy heartbeats for steady state preparation