Abstract #1357

High-Quality Ventilation Imaging of the Human Lung Using 100 Ml of Helium-3

John P. Mugler, III¹, Karen E. Mooney², Talissa A. Altes¹, Jaime F. Mata¹, Kun Qing³, Eduard E. de Lange¹, William A. Tobias², James R. Brookeman¹, Gordon D. Cates, Jr.², G. Wilson Miller¹

¹Radiology & Medical Imaging, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; ²Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; ³Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States

The purpose of this study was to perform a preliminary assessment of the quality of helium-3 (He3) ventilation MR images that can be obtained with a He3 dose of only 100 ml by combining increased polarization with a balanced steady-state free-precession (TrueFISP) acquisition. High-quality images, with SNR values ranging between 28 and 43, were obtained in five healthy subjects.