Abstract #3108
Feasibility of 13C-MRI of the lung using 13CO2 gas
Schreiber W, Scholz A, Wolf U, Meise F
Mainz University Medical School, Section of Medical Physics
Recently, sophisticated techniques for visualizing intrapulmonary gas using hyperpolarized 3He or 129Xe, or fluorinated gas compounds have been developed. However, when compared with respiratory gases like N2, O2 and CO2 all of theses MRI contrast gases differ in their physical and physiological properties. Here we demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of MRI using thermally polarized isotopically enriched 13CO2 gas in phantoms and rat lungs.
