Puttisarn Mongkolwisetwara1, Milton Rossman2, Evguenia Arguiri2, Harrilla Profka1, Kiarash Emami1, Yi Xin1, Stephen J. Kadlecek1, Melpo Christofidou-Solomidou2, Rahim
1Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 2Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal lung disease. It causes scarring of the lungs and limits oxygen transport across membranes into bloodstream. The disease course of IPF is variable. In this work, hyperpolarized (HP) 3He MRI is used to acquire regional information of oxygen tension, oxygen uptake and fractional ventilation in a rat model of interstitial fibrosis secondary to bleomycin. Significant correlation between oxygen uptake and biological markers of inflammation and fibrosis in lung suggests that the oxygen-weighted HP MRI can be used as a tool for early detection of fibrosis development and evaluate disease progress in humans.