Can we predict the diffusion "sweet-spot" based on a standard cine?

Excerpt

Cardiac diffusion tensor imaging (cDTI) is often performed using a stimulated echo sequence with monopolar diffusion encoding [1, 2]. While diffusion measured with this sequence is modified by strain [1] the standard strain model predicts that the strain effects can be eliminated by imaging at one of two "sweet-spots" in the cardiac cycle where the effects of strain cancel [3]. However, analysis of strain data to calculate the sweet-spot timings (SST) is typically too time consuming to be performed during an exam. Here we hypothesise that the SST is linearly related to the time to peak strain (PST) and PST will be approximately equal to end-systole time (EST) estimated from a standard cine. If so, EST could be used to easily predict SST. …