Alexei V. Ouriadov1, Matthew Fox2,3,
Lanette Friesen-Waldner4, Charles McKenzie4,5, Giles
Santy4
1Robarts Research
Institute, The University of Western Ontario , London, Ontario, Canada; 2Robarts
Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario,
Canada; 3The Department of Physics, Tthe University of Western
Ontario; 4The Department of Medical Biophysics, The University of
Western Ontario; 5Biomedical Engineering Program, The University
of Western Ontario
MR imaging using hyperpolarized 129Xe provides non-invasive approach for probing lung structure and function. In addition to this 129Xe is able to diffuse across the blood-gas barrier giving rise to CS in compartments such as tissue/RBC. So measurements of ventilation(V), perfusion(Q) and diffusing capacity of xenon(DXe) are possible. In order to obtain simultaneous V, Q and DXe maps we propose to use modified Dixon method called IDEAL. The preliminary results obtained from the rat lung demonstrate the feasibility of using IDEAL for simultaneous hyperpolarized 129Xe imaging of the gas signal and the signal from the tissue/RBC compartments in the lung.