First-pass perfusion CMR with reduced dark-rim artifact and instantaneous image reconstruction using optimized cartesian sampling and apodization

Background Subendocardial dark-rim artifact (DRA) continues to be a major issue that limits the diagnostic performance of first pass perfusion (FPP) CMR. Non-Cartesian approaches such as radial or spiral acquisition have been proposed to minimize DRAs. Among these approaches, those that can operate without the need for breath-holding typically require a time-consuming offline image reconstruction procedure, which limits their clinical accessibility. We propose a free-breathing DRA-reduced FPP scheme with instant image reconstruction on the scanner.