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Abstract #4625

Ventilation/Perfusion MR Imaging of the Lung Using T1-Weighted Ultra-Short Echo Time (UTE) Imaging: Animal Experiment in a 3 T Clinical MRI System

Osamu Togao1, Marc van Cauteren2, Yoshiharu Ohno3, Ivan Dimitrov1,2, Masaya Takahashi1

1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; 2MR Clinical Science, Philips Healthcare, Best, Netherlands; 3Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe , Hyogo, Japan


We have demonstrated that an UTE sequence could bring inherent MR signal of the lung parenchyma that closely related to the parenchymal tissue anatomy. We hypothesize that the capability of the method to acquire inherent MR signal of the lung parenchyma should allow us to assess changes in SI due to inhalation of molecular oxygen or intravenous injection of gadolinium. In the present study, we tested the feasibility of a T1-weighted UTE sequence for assessment of regional pulmonary ventilation/perfusion which is essential for the evaluation of a variety of lung diseases in a 3T clinical MRI system.