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Additional file 8: Figure S7. Coronal visualisation of the whole chest and the thoracic vasculature. Coronal orientation in planning allows visualisation of the subclavian arteries and potential aneurysms or stenosis along their entire thoracic course.

Additional file 7: Figure S6. Bland���Altman plots for intra-rater co-axial aortic diameter measurements with the iNAV T2prep-bSSFP sequence for reviewer 2. Bland���Altman plots for intra-rater co-axial diameter measurements of the aortic root, sinotubular unction, mid ascending aorta, mid aortic arch, mid and distal descending aorta with the iNAV T2prep-bSSFP sequence for reviewer 2. The black line indicates the mean bias of the diameter measurements whereas the red lines represent the 95% confidence interval. Values are given in cm. A Good agreement with a mean difference between methods of ��� 0.002 cm for the aortic root (95% CI ��� 0.13 to 0.13); B good agreement with a mean difference of 0.01 cm for the sinotubular junction (95% CI ��� 0.11 to 0.14); C good agreement with a mean difference of 0.005 cm for the mid ascending aorta (95% CI ��� 0.14 to 0.15); D good agreement with a mean difference of 0.02 cm for the mid aortic arch (95% CI ��� 0.11 to 0.15); E Good agreement with a mean difference of 0.01 cm for the mid descending aorta (95% CI ��� 0.14 to 0.16); F good agreement with a mean difference of ��� 0.007 cm for the distal descending aorta (95% CI ��� 0.15 to 0.12).

Additional file 1: Table S1. Patient cohort with the corresponding baseline characteristics. Patient cohort with the corresponding baseline characteristics

Additional file 2: Figure S1. Transverse and coronal views of the aorta for five patients with challenging acquisition. Robust aortic imaging with the iNAV T2prepared-bSSFP in patients with high BMI (Patient 24: A & F, Patient 27: B & G, Patient 29: C & H, Patient 32: E & J). Flow (red arrows) and respiratory-related (yellow arrows) artefacts are diminished. Significant attenuation of the respiratory motion artefacts in two patients with highly irregular breathing pattern; green arrows (Patient 30, D & I; Patient 32: E & J).

Additional file 5: Figure S4. Relative standard deviation of signal intensity quantification in the whole thoracic aorta. Relative standard deviation of signal intensity quantification in the whole thoracic aorta for the dNAV T2-prep bSSFP and the iNAV T2-prep bSSFP.

Additional file 6: Figure S5. Bland���Altman plots for co-axial diameter measurements of mid aortic arch, mid descending aorta and distal descending aorta between the dNAV and the iNAV T2prep-bSSFP sequence for reviewer 2 (A, B, C) and reviewer 3 (D, E, F). Bland���Altman plots for co-axial diameter measurements of the mid aortic arch, mid descending aorta and distal descending aorta between the dNAV and the iNAV T2prep-bSSFP sequence for reviewer 2 (A, B, C) and reviewer 3 (D, E, F). The black line indicates the mean bias of the diameter measurements whereas the red lines represent the 95% confidence interval. Values are given in cm. A Good agreement with a mean difference 0.003 cm for reviewer 2 for the mid aortic arch (95% CI ��� 0.21 to 0.2) for reviewer 2; B good agreement with a mean difference of ��� 0.02 cm for reviewer 2 for the mid descending aorta (95% CI ��� 0.2 to 0.15); C good agreement with a mean difference of 0.03 cm for reviewer 2 for the distal descending aorta (95% CI ��� 0.13 to 0.2); D good agreement with a mean difference of 0.01 cm for reviewer 3 for the mid aortic arch arch (95% CI ��� 0.31 to 0.33); E good agreement with a mean difference of 0.006 cm for reviewer 3 for the mid descending aorta (95% CI ��� 0.25 to 0.29); F good agreement with a mean difference of ��� 0.02 cm for reviewer 3 for the distal descending aorta (95% CI ��� 0.25 to 0.2).

Additional file 9: Figure S8. Segmental depiction of the intracardiac anatomy and the vessels connected to the heart. Segmental depiction of the pulmonary veins, the intracardiac anatomy, great arteries and coronary arteries.

Additional file 4: Figure S3. Example cases of different image quality visual assessment scores reported by an expert cardiologist. Example cases of different image quality visual assessment scores reported by an expert cardiologist with regards to blurring from respiratory motion (4 = severe artefact, 2 = significant artefact, 3 = mild artefact, and 4 = minimal artefact) and homogeneity of blood signal intensity (1 = non diagnostic, 2 = poor, 3 = adequate-good, 4 = excellent).

Additional file 3: Figure S2. Sagittal and coronal views of the aorta for three patients with challenging acquisition. Robust aortic imaging with the iNAV T2prep-bSSFP in a patient with atrial fibrillation during the scan (Patient 26: A & D), in one patient with high BMI (Patient 27, B & E) and in one patient with highly irregular breathing pattern (Patient 30, C & F). Significant flow-related artefacts and blurring from respiratory motion (arrowheads) are alleviated.

BACKGROUND: Myocardial T1 mapping shows promise for assessment of cardiomyopathies. Most myocardial T1 mapping techniques, such as modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI), generate one T1 map per breath-held acquisition (9-17 heartbeats), which prolongs multislice protocols and may be unsuitable for patients with breath-holding difficulties. PURPOSE: To develop and characterize novel shortened inversion recovery based T1 mapping schemes of 2-5 heartbeats. STUDY TYPE: Prospective. POPULATION/PHANTOM: Numerical simulations, agarose/NiCl2 phantom, 16 healthy volunteers, and 24 patients. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 1.5T/MOLLI. ASSESSMENT: All shortened T1 mapping schemes were characterized and compared with a conventional MOLLI scheme (5-(3)-3) in terms of accuracy, precision, spatial variability, and repeatability. STATISTICAL TESTS: Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, analysis of variance, Student's t-tests, Bland-Altman analysis, and Pearson correlation analysis. RESULTS: All shortened schemes provided limited T1 time variations ( 0.71). In healthy volunteers, there were no statistically significant differences between all schemes in terms of native T1 times and repeatability for myocardium (P = 0.21 and P = 0.87, respectively) and blood (P = 0.79 and P = 0.41, respectively). All shortened schemes led to a limited increase of spatial variability for native myocardial T1 mapping with respect to MOLLI (by a factor of 1.2) (P /=0.83). DATA CONCLUSION: The proposed two-heartbeat T1 mapping scheme yields a 5-fold acceleration compared with MOLLI, with highly linearly correlated T1 times, no significant difference of repeatability, and limited spatial variability penalty at 1.5T. This approach may enable myocardial T1 mapping in patients with severe breath-holding difficulties and reduce the examination time of multislice protocols. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1 Technical Efficacy Stage: 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019.

Background: Conventional myocardial T 1 mapping techniques such as modified Look–Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) generate one T 1 map per breathhold. T 1 mapping with full left ventricular coverage may be desirable when spatial T 1 variations are expected. This would require multiple breathholds, increasing patient discomfort and prolonging scan time. Purpose: To develop and characterize a novel FASt single-breathhold 2D multislice myocardial T 1 mapping (FAST1) technique for full left ventricular coverage. Study Type: Prospective. Population/Phantom: Numerical simulation, agarose/NiCl 2 phantom, 9 healthy volunteers, and 17 patients. Field Strength/Sequence: 1.5T/FAST1. Assessment: Two FAST1 approaches, FAST1-BS and FAST1-IR, were characterized and compared with standard 5-(3)-3 MOLLI in terms of accuracy, precision/spatial variability, and repeatability. Statistical Tests: Kruskal-Wallis, Wilcoxon signed rank tests, intraclass correlation coefficient analysis, analysis of variance, Student's t-tests, Pearson correlation analysis, and Bland–Altman analysis. Results: In simulation/phantom, FAST1-BS, FAST1-IR, and MOLLI had an accuracy (expressed as T 1 error) of 0.2%/4%, 6%/9%, and 4%/7%, respectively, while FAST1-BS and FAST1-IR had a precision penalty of 1.7/1.5 and 1.5/1.4 in comparison with MOLLI, respectively. In healthy volunteers, FAST1-BS/FAST1-IR/MOLLI led to different native myocardial T 1 times (1016 ± 27 msec/952 ±22 msec/987 ± 23 msec, P < 0.0001) and spatial variability (66 ± 10 msec/57 ± 8 msec/46 ± 7 msec, P < 0.001). There were no statistically significant differences between all techniques for T 1 repeatability (P = 0.18). In vivo native and postcontrast myocardial T 1 times in both healthy volunteers and patients using FAST1-BS/FAST1-IR were highly correlated with MOLLI (Pearson correlation coefficient ≥0.93). Data Conclusion: FAST1 enables myocardial T 1 mapping with full left ventricular coverage in three separated breathholds. In comparison with MOLLI, FAST1 yield a 5-fold increase of spatial coverage, limited penalty of T 1 precision/spatial variability, no significant difference of T 1 repeatability, and highly correlated T 1 times. FAST1-IR provides improved T 1 precision/spatial variability but reduced accuracy when compared with FAST1-BS. Level of Evidence: 1. Technical Efficacy: Stage 3. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;51:492–504.