Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) of the cardiovascular system: challenges and perspectives
Abstract
Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a powerful, non-invasive, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that relies on measurement of magnetic susceptibility. So far, QSM has been employed mostly to study neurological disorders characterized by iron accumulation, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Nonetheless, QSM allows mapping key indicators of cardiac disease such as blood oxygenation and myocardial iron content. For this reason, the application of QSM offers an unprecedented opportunity to gain a better understanding of the pathophysiological changes associated with cardiovascular disease and to monitor their evolution and response to treatment. Recent studies on cardiovascular QSM have shown the feasibility of a non-invasive assessment of blood oxygenation, myocardial iron content and myocardial fibre orientation, as well as carotid plaque composition. Significant technical challenges remain, the most evident of which are related to cardiac and respiratory motion, blood flow, chemical shift effects and susceptibility artefacts. Significant work is ongoing to overcome these challenges and integrate the QSM technique into clinical practice in the cardiovascular field.
Related
- An initial clinical evaluation of quantitative susceptibility mapping for quantitative characterization of intramyocardial hemorrhage
- Characterization of quantitative susceptibility mapping in the left ventricular myocardium
- SPIO-induced susceptibility effects on quantitative liver MRI: cross-method assessment of R2*, PDFF, T1 mapping, and MRE
- SPD Matrix Learning for Neuroimaging Analysis: Perspectives, Methods, and Challenges
- Therapeutic cancer vaccines: development, challenges, and future perspectives
BibTeX
@article{aimo2026quantitative,
title = {{Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) of the cardiovascular system: challenges and perspectives}},
author = {Alberto Aimo and Li Huang and Andrew Tyler and Andrea Barison and Nicola Martini and Luigi Saccaro and Sébastien Roujol and Pier-Giorgio Masci},
journal = {Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1186/s12968-022-00883-z},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05795995v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) of the cardiovascular system: challenges and perspectives
AU - Alberto Aimo
AU - Li Huang
AU - Andrew Tyler
AU - Andrea Barison
AU - Nicola Martini
AU - Luigi Saccaro
AU - Sébastien Roujol
AU - Pier-Giorgio Masci
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
JO - Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance
DO - 10.1186/s12968-022-00883-z
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05795995v1
AB - Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a powerful, non-invasive, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that relies on measurement of magnetic susceptibility. So far, QSM has been employed mostly to study neurological disorders characterized by iron accumulation, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Nonetheless, QSM allows mapping key indicators of cardiac disease such as blood oxygenation and myocardial iron content. For this reason, the application of QSM offers an unprecedented opportunity to gain a better understanding of the pathophysiological changes associated with cardiovascular disease and to monitor their evolution and response to treatment. Recent studies on cardiovascular QSM have shown the feasibility of a non-invasive assessment of blood oxygenation, myocardial iron content and myocardial fibre orientation, as well as carotid plaque composition. Significant technical challenges remain, the most evident of which are related to cardiac and respiratory motion, blood flow, chemical shift effects and susceptibility artefacts. Significant work is ongoing to overcome these challenges and integrate the QSM technique into clinical practice in the cardiovascular field.
SN - 1097-6647
SN - 1532-429X
ER -