Cardiac motion tracking using cine harmonic phase (harp) magnetic resonance imaging

TLDR: A new computational approach permits rapid analysis and visualization of myocardial strain within 5–10 min after the scan is complete, and its performance is demonstrated on MR image sequences reflecting both normal and abnormal cardiac motion.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of measuring motion of an object such as a heart by magnetic resonance imaging. A pulse sequence is applied to spatially modulate a region of interest of the object and at least one first spectral peak is acquired from the Fourier domain of the spatially modulated object. The inverse Fourier transform information of the acquired first spectral-peaks is computed and a computed first harmonic phase image is determined from each spectral peak. The process is repeated to create a second harmonic phase image from each second spectral peak and the strain is determined from the first and second harmonic phase images. In a preferred embodiment, the method is employed to determine strain within the myocardium and to determine change in position of a point at two different times which may result in an increased distance or reduced distance. The method may be employed to determine the path of motion of a point through a sequence of tag images depicting movement of the heart. The method may be employed to determine circumferential strain and radial strain.