Abstract #0095

Hyperpolarized Xenon-129 Gas-Exchange Imaging of Lung Microstructure: Preliminary Results in Subjects with Obstructive Lung Disease

Isabel Dregely¹, John P. Mugler III², Iulian Constantin Ruset³, Talissa A. Altes², Jamie F. Mata², G. Wilson Miller², Jeffrey Ketel³, Steve Ketel³, Jan Distelbrinck³, F. William Hersman^1,3, Kai Ruppert²

¹Physics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA; ²Radiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA; ³Xemed LLC, Durham, NH, USA

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a method, Multiple exchange time Xenon polarization Transfer Contrast (MXTC) MRI, to non-invasively assess lung microstructure. The dynamic encoding of the xenon gas-exchange contrast permits two parameters to be derived regionally which are related to gas-exchange functionality by characterizing the tissue to alveolar-volume ratio and the alveolar wall thickness. By quantifying simultaneously two lung function parameters, MXTC provides a more comprehensive picture of lung microstructure then existing lung imaging techniques and could become an important non-invasive and quantitative tool to characterize pulmonary disease phenotypes.