Kiarash Emami1, Hooman Hamedani1, Biao Han1, Yinan Xu1, Stephen J. Kadlecek1, Masaru Ishii2, Rahim R. Rizi1
1Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States; 2Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
The feasibility of performing multi-breath fractional ventilation hyperpolarized gas MRI in human subjects are demonstrated. This methodology is the first to report a quantitative measure of respiratory gas distribution and replacement in human lungs. The detailed mechanisms of gas transport in lungs with heterogeneous ventilation defects require further investigation to explain the reflections on fractional ventilation values before proper interpretation can be made. Nevertheless fractional ventilation can now be evaluated as a quantitative regional marker to investigate heterogeneous obstructive lung diseases.