John P. Mugler, III1, Karen E. Mooney2, Talissa A. Altes1, Jaime F. Mata1, Kun Qing3, Eduard E. de Lange1, William A. Tobias2, James R. Brookeman1, Gordon D. Cates, Jr. 2, G. Wilson Miller1
1Radiology & Medical Imaging, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; 2Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; 3Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States
The purpose of this study was to perform a preliminary assessment of the quality of helium-3 (He3) ventilation MR images that can be obtained with a He3 dose of only 100 ml by combining increased polarization with a balanced steady-state free-precession (TrueFISP) acquisition. High-quality images, with SNR values ranging between 28 and 43, were obtained in five healthy subjects.