Isabel Dregely1, Kai Ruppert2,
Jaime F. Mata2, Talissa A. Altes2, Jeff Ketel3,
Iulian C. Ruset3, Steve Ketel3, G. Wilson Miller2,
John P. Mugler III2, F. W. Hersman1,3
1Physics, University of New Hampshire,
Durham, NH, United States; 2Radiology, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, VA, United States; 3Xemed LLC, Durham, NH, United
States
The
purpose of this work is to investigate the ability of 3D multiple exchange time
xenon polarization transfer contrast (MXTC) MRI to detect changes in lung
microstructure following the instillation of elastase into a rabbit lung. 3D
MXTC is an extension of the XTC technique, which allows the calculation of
the regional septal wall thickness and the tissue-to-alveolar-volume ratio.
We observed an increase in the global mean of tissue thickness and relative
tissue volume and identified regions of abnormal lung microstructure in the
rabbit lung post-elastase instillation most likely due to an initial severe
inflammatory response.