Kai Ruppert1, Jaime F. Mata1,
Isabel M. Dregely2, Talissa A. Altes1, G Wilson Miller1,
Stephen Ketel3, Jeff Ketel3, Iulian C. Ruset3,
F William Hersman2, John P. Mugler, III1
1Radiology, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA, United States; 2Physics, University of New
Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States; 3Xemed, LLC, Durham, NH,
United States
Due
to the large chemical shift difference between hyperpolarized Xe129 (HXe129)
dissolved in lung tissue and in the alveolar air spaces it is feasible to
image both compartments simultaneously, appearing side-by-side in the image,
by using a suitable imaging bandwidth. By varying the TE of the image
acquisition it appears to be feasible
to extract additional information about the regional distribution of the dissolved-phase
sub-compartments, which might be strongly affected by pulmonary interstitial
or vascular diseases. Prelimary results in alive and post mortem rabbits are
presented.