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Abstract #0645

Progress in MR Elastography of Human Lung Parenchyma: Evaluation of Regional Density Measurements and Faster Imaging Sequences

Yogesh K. Mariappan1, David L. Levin1, Kevin J. Glaser1, Richard L. Ehman1, Kiaran P. McGee1

1Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States


It has been shown that pulmonary MR Elastography (MRE) can resolve the effective stiffness of human lung parenchyma using a short-TE spin echo (SE) technique. In this work, estimation of true parenchymal stiffness is described and involves the application of a SE EPI MRE sequence and GRE lung density estimation technique. This approach was evaluated on a preserved lung specimen and on healthy human volunteers. Stiffness values obtained with the EPI-MRE sequence were comparable to those from the SE technique. In addition, measured lung tissue density and true stiffness values were in agreement with previously reported estimates.

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