Alexei Ouriadov1, Eric Lessard1, David G McCormack2, and Grace Parraga1
1Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada, 2Department of Medicine, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
We hypothesized that using
inhaled noble gas MRI diffusion-weighted imaging, the diffusion scale estimated
using the stretched exponential model would be strongly related to MRI
estimates of the mean linear intercept of the lung parenchyma. In this proof-of-concept evaluation, we
evaluated 34 never- and ex-smokers and compared parenchyma morphological
estimates acquired using two different MRI approaches ad as well with CT and
pulmonary function test measurements of acinar duct structure and function. This is important because in obstructive lung disease, the
non-invasive measurement of parenchyma tissue destruction or maldevelopment may
serve as a therapeutic target.
