Vorticity imaging of diastolic cardiac inflow by phase-contrast MRI

A system is proposed for measuring the three dimensional flow pattern of the left ventricle during filling, with sufficient spatial and temporal resolution to characterize vortex behavior. At least one vortex is known to form during diastolic filling and is thought to play a role in cardiac function. Variations in the vorticity field are hypothesized to be sensitive indicators of heart abnormalities. To test this hypothesis, new techniques were developed for high-resolution reconstruction of phase contrast (velocity encoded) MRI data, computation of vorticity from sampled velocities, and 3D display of vorticity information. In preliminary evaluations, these techniques showed an absence of the vortex in patients with congestive heart failure related to diastolic dysfunction.