Towards Routine Lung MRI in Small Animals

Sascha Khler¹, Markus Weiger², Ute Molkentin¹, Franciszek Hennel¹

Lung MRI is very demanding because of cardiac and respiratory motion, low proton density, and short T2* values. In the present in-vivo study robust and high quality lung imaging is demonstrated enabling routine studies in small animals. Lung parenchyma in small rodents is visualized with high SNR at 7 T using radial ultrashort TE (UTE) techniques. The 3D and 2D versions of the implemented sequence provide minimum echo times of 20 s and 400 s, respectively. Consequently, with 3D UTE hardly any T2* dephasing effects in the lung structure are visible whereas the 2D images show a reduced signal intensity in lung parenchyma, resulting in a higher contrast against the surrounding tissue.