Characterization
of 3He Diffusion in Lungs Using a Stretched Exponential Model
Juan Parra-Robles1,
Helen Marshall1, Jim M. Wild1
1Unit
of Academic Radiology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
In this work, the anomalous diffusion
stretched-exponential model is used to describe multi b-value 3He MRI
diffusion data from normal volunteers and COPD patients. Our results show
that this model may provide a robust measure of changes in lung structure due
to disease that is valid over a range of experimental conditions. This seems
to indicate that the heterogeneity index &[alpha] is insensitive to a
range of uncertainties in experimental conditions but sensitive to changes in
lung structure due to COPD/emphysema.
