Hirohiko Imai1, Atsuomi Kimura1,
Satoshi Iguchi1, Hideaki Fujiwara1
1Department of Medical Physics & Engineering, Division
of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Suita,
Osaka, Japan
We investigated the feasibility of quantitative assessment of emphysema with a combination of gas-phase (GP) and dissolved-phase (DP) hyperpolarized (HP) <sup>129Xe lung MRI in spontaneously breathing mice. GP and DP 129Xe were imaged by using ultrashort TE (UTE) sequence. By using these images, the fraction F, which is the ratio of the magnetization of 129Xe diffused into septa within 50 ms relative to that of the gas space, was regionally evaluated. The F value was significantly reduced in elastase-induced emphysema model, reflecting the alveolar tissue destruction and the value showed significant correlation with histologically derived surface-to-volume ratio (S/V).
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