Sean Alexander Lourette1, Allen W. Che2,
Jason C. Woods1,2, Mark S. Conradi1,2
1Physics, Washington
University, St. Louis, MO, United States; 2Radiology, Washington
University, St. Louis, MO, United States
To reduce the cost of hyperpolarized 3He MR experiments, used for measuring restricted diffusion, ventilation uniformity, and oxygen distribution in lungs, 3He should be recaptured and purified for reuse in future experiments. A device has been constructed that collects exhaled gas into flexible bags, using activated carbon to remove N2, O2, and other exhaled contaminants from the 3He by means of physical adsorption at 77 K. The purified 3He is cryogenically recompressed, mixed with nitrogen buffer gas, and used to refill Rb-glass cells for hyperpolarization.