HP 3He-MRI of the Exponential Alveolar PO2 Decay in Human Subjects

Katarzyna Cieslar¹, Elise Bannier¹, Zahir Salhi², Sophie Gaillard¹, Philippe Reix³, Yannick Crmillieux¹

The alveolar pO2 measurement in humans is currently being performed based on the linear model of pO2 decay during apnea. The aim of this work was to verify the potential advantages of using the more physiologically appropriate exponential pO2 decay model for improving the results of pO2 mapping in humans. The quality of the parametric maps based on the exponential model was found superior to the ones obtained by using the linear model. The distributions of the parameters of interest obtained as a result of the numerical simulations confirm the trends observed in vivo.