Purpose: To develop and validate a non-contrast free-breathing whole-heart 3D cine steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence with a novel 3D radial leaf trajectory. Methods: We used a... Show morePurpose: To develop and validate a non-contrast free-breathing whole-heart 3D cine steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence with a novel 3D radial leaf trajectory. Methods: We used a respiratory navigator to trigger acquisition of 3D cine data at end-expiration to minimize respiratory motion in our 3D cine SSFP sequence. We developed a novel 3D radial leaf trajectory to reduce gradient jumps and associated eddy-current artifacts. We then reconstructed the 3D cine images with a resolution of 2.0mm3 using an iterative nonlinear optimization algorithm. Prospective validation was performed by comparing ventricular volumetric measurements from a conventional breath-hold 2D cine ventricular short-axis stack against the non-contrast free-breathing whole-heart 3D cine dataset in each patient (n = 13). Results: All 3D cine SSFP acquisitions were successful and mean scan time was 07:09 +/- 01:31 min. End-diastolic ventricular volumes for left ventricle (LV) and right ventricle (RV) measured from the 3D datasets were smaller than those from 2D (LV: 159.99 +/- 42.99 vs. 173.16 +/- 47.42; RV: 180.35 +/- 46.08 vs. 193.13 +/- 49.38; p-value <= 0.044; bias<8%), whereas ventricular end-systolic volumes were more comparable (LV: 79.12 +/- 26.78 vs. 78.46 +/- 25.35; RV: 97.18 +/- 32.35 vs. 102.42 +/- 32.53; p-value >= 0.190, bias<6%). The 3D cine data had a lower subjective image quality score. Conclusion: Our non-contrast free-breathing whole-heart 3D cine sequence with novel leaf trajectory was robust and yielded smaller ventricular end-diastolic volumes compared to 2D cine imaging. It has the potential to make examinations easier and more comfortable for patients. Show less
