ABSTRACT
The tagging pulse sequence consists of two main modules: tags preparation (tagging) and data acquisition (imaging). In the tagging module, also called modulation module, the magnetization is prepared such that a specic pattern of saturated magnetization is created in the myocardium, which is imaged later during the imaging stage. The focus in the chapters in Heart Mechanics: Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Mathematical Modeling, Pulse Sequences, and Image Analysis was on the tagging module, where we addressed the different criteria used to generate various tagging patterns with different tags proles and characteristics. In this chapter, we focus on the second part of the tagging pulse sequence: imaging or data acquisition. Although data acquisition is a general topic, which can be discussed in any general MRI textbook, we address this topic here from a different approach: the suitability of different imaging sequences for tagging applications
and the effects of changing different imaging parameters on the resulting tagged images and tagline quality. The importance of this approach is that some pulse sequences and imaging protocols that produce acceptable images for certain applications may deem inappropriate for myocardial tagging. Therefore, this chapter includes tagging simulations and tagged images acquired with different imaging sequences and parameters to show the effects of changing these parameters on the resulting tagged images. From this perspective, this chapter forms an important addition to Heart Mechanics: Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Mathematical Modeling, Pulse Sequences, and Image Analysis by completing the picture of myocardial tagging.
