Adenosine Stress Perfusion Cardiac MRI: Improving Image Quality Using a 32-Channel Surface Coil

Purpose: Adenosine stress CMR is commonly used to assess myocardial ischaemia. Obtaining high quality images requires maximising signal to noise ratio (SNR) over a large double-oblique field of view (FOV) whilst minimising artefacts. A 32-channel surface coil may provide a higher SNR over a larger FOV compared to standard coils, possibly leading to improved image quality. Materials and Methods: 50 adenosine perfusion CMR scans were performed on a Philips Achieva CV 1.5T, with either a 5 or 32-channel coil (25 patients each) using standardised acquisition protocols. 3 short axis slices were acquired per cardiac cycle and the resulting cine images were scored by two blinded CMR specialists on a quality scale of 1 to 5. Phantom studies were performed using similar acquisition parameters and the SNR was calculated and compared across a range of acceleration factors. Results: The mean patient age was 62 ± 11 years and 50% of patients were male. The image quality scores were higher using the 32-channel coil (mean 3.8 ± 0.7 vs 3.2 ± 0.9 p = 0.002). The average phantom SNR was greater for the 32-element coil across the range of acceleration factors measured (103 vs 86 p = <0.001). Conclusions: The 32-channel coil produces significantly higher quality images and a higher SNR than the 5-channel coil in routine perfusion CMR.