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Abstract #4629

Hyperpolarized 83Kr MR Relaxation Measurements in Excised Rat Lungs.

Karl F. Stupic1, Nancy D. Elkins2, Galina E. Pavlovskaya3, John E. Repine2, Thomas Meersmann, 1,3

1Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States; 2Health Science Center, Webb-Waring Institute, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, United States; 3School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom


Hyperpolarized (hp) 83Kr has been previously shown to provide T1 relaxation weighted MRI contrast that is highly sensitive to the surface chemistry in low surface-to-volume model surface systems In the present work 83Kr T1 relaxation in excised rat lungs is investigated as a function of lung inflation. Surprisingly, the relaxation in ex vivo lungs does not change with increased lung inflation (when the effects of airways are eliminated) despite the presumably changing surface to volume ratios in the alveoli. The measured relaxation times are long enough to permit future in vivo studies.