Imaging of the Myocardial Scar Using 3D Fat-Suppressed Dark-Blood LGE
Imaging of the myocardial scar and fibrosis is essential for proper diagnosis and treatment planning of several heart diseases. Late Gadolinium Enhanced (LGE) MRI is a standard imaging technique commonly used for that purpose. Nevertheless, the low scar-to-blood contrast in LGE images limits the potential to detect sub-endocardial scars, hyper-enhanced papillary muscles, scarred thin structures such as the left atrium and the right ventricle. In this project, modifications to the standard LGE sequence are introduced and studied aiming to improve the contrast of the myocardial scar relative to the surrounding tissues; e.g. fat, normal myocardium and blood.