Myocardial tagging during real-time MRI

The advent of high performance gradients and parallel imaging schemes has made real-time MRI a stable mode of scanning. Cardiac tagging techniques have been shown to give extremely precise and accurate estimates of the evaluation of myocardial function. We have implemented a real-time mode of MRI that allows myocardial tagging to be performed without breath-holds, or gating. This will make the quantitative evaluation of myocardial function simpler in those patients with arrhythmias and those who cannot hold their breath.