Abstract #1330

Chen J, Huang S, Hsieh C, Chang Y, Liu S

Hyperpolarized (HP) 129Xe MRI has been demonstrated as a promising tool for diagnosis of pulmonary diseases. In this preliminary study, we designed and tested a storage/delivery system for HP 129Xe MRI to facilitate freezing and thawing cyclic operations while preserving majority of the spin depolarization with sustainable relaxation. The spin-lattice relaxation times (T1) of HP 129Xe gas in the storage and the delivery chamber were found to be 155.0 and 71.4 minutes, respectively, and hence practical for applications of HP 129Xe MRI in small animal lung and related disease diagnosis studies, which have been undertaken.