The Development and Optimization of a Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Protocol in a 3 Tesla Scanner

In recent years, evaluating cardiac function with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has drawn widespread interest. However, cardiac MRI is prone to severe motion artifacts from cardiac contraction, frequently requiring complex triggering procedures to enhance image quality-a task that typically demands a highly skilled technologist to execute within limited clinical time. As there is currently no optimized cardiac MRI protocol at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, this subproject aims to first establish a clinically feasible, optimized protocol to support other subprojects and future studies. The investigators will develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) and subsequently use it to evaluate recovery in heart failure patients. Over this three-year project, the investigators plan to use MRI to evaluate cardiac morphology and function in heart failure patients. In Year 1, the investigators will establish a clinically feasible protocol to assess myocardial stability; baseline images from healthy controls will be incorporated into the integrated project. In Year 2, the investigators will introduce accelerated imaging techniques, assess the correlation between disease severity and MRI findings, and measure cardiac diffusion parameters. In Year 3, the investigators will follow heart failure patients to monitor their recovery process.