Functional Hyperpolarized Xenon-129 MRI of the ex vivo Rodent Lung

David M.L. Lilburn¹, Theodore Hughes-Riley¹, Joseph Six¹, Karl Stupic¹, Dominick Shaw², Galina Pavlovskaya¹, Thomas Meersmann¹

Hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe MRI permits imaging of the lung airspaces and potentially provides increased functional information over other modalities. The developed ex vivo lung model provides a tool for investigation of lung physiology to study parameters that are technically difficult in vivo, particularly with the small volumes of hp gas used in rodent lungs, whilst reducing the severity of the procedure to the experimental animal. Image data from ex vivo rodent lungs illustrate the pattern of hyperpolarized gas distribution on increasing inhalation volumes and provides new data on how the whole lung responds to repeat challenges of bronchoconstricting and relaxant drugs.