Cine sequences used in cardiovascular MRI are collection of images (usually at the same spatial location) covering of one full period of cardiac cycle or over several periods in order to obtain complete coverage.
The pulse sequence used, is either a standard gradient echo pulse sequence, a segmented data acquisition, a gradient echo EPI sequence or a gradient echo with balanced gradient waveform. In cardiac gating studies it is possible to assign consecutive lines either to different images, yielding a multiphase sequence with as many images as lines, or the lines are grouped together into segments and assigned to the same image. The overall time to acquire such a segment has to be small compared to the RR-interval of the cardiac cycle, i. e. 50 ms, and hence contains typically 8 to 16 image lines.
This strategy is called segmented data acquisition, and has the advantage of reducing overall imaging time for cardiac images so that they can be acquired within a breath hold, but obviously decreasing the temporal resolution of each individual image. This method shows dynamic processes, such as the ejection of blood out of the heart into the aorta, by means of fast imaging and displaying the resulting images in a sequential-loop, the impression of a real-time movie is generated. Ejection fractions and stroke volumes calculated from these cine MRI images in different cardiac axes have been shown to be more accurate than any other imaging modality.

See also Cardiac Gating.

A psychological reaction to being confined in a relatively small area.
This is a very real psychological danger for some individuals during the MRI procedure. A small percentage of patients is claustrophobic and cannot tolerate the confined space within a closed MRI magnet. Claustrophobia, panic attacks and other psychological stress situations have been reported in about 1-4% of cases as a reason to interrupt the MRI examination. Principally short and wide open MRI devices are advantageous because the percentage of claustrophobic incidents drops significantly.
Detailed explanation of the MRI procedure, careful attention and special equipment (mirrors to look outside the machine, emergency bells) help to reduce claustrophobia significantly. The majority of claustrophobic patients will be sufficiently relaxed with orally or intravenous sedatives.

See also Open MRI.

The complex numbers extend the real numbers by including the imaginary unit i (satisfying i2 = - 1). The term 'complex' when used as an adjective means that the field of complex numbers is as the underlying number field considered. In MRI, complex data are used for example in the Fourier transforms.

Decimation is the reduction of data at the digitized signal. Fewer samples are used to represent the signal. Decimation can be realized by decimation in frequency or decimation in time.
The opposite process is called interpolation, more samples are added.

(DANTE) A technique used to place a saturation band over e.g. the myocardium. This technique includes spatial modulation of magnetization complementary and delays alternating with nutations for tailored excitation, followed by the application of a cine or real-time imaging. Because the saturated magnetization pattern moves with the atoms of the tissue, the cardiac motion shows up as deformations in the grid pattern in the resulting imaging sequence.