Hyperpolarized (HP) 129Xe ventilation MRI can be used for non-invasive assessment of lung obstruction. However, the minimum 129Xe dose to obtain HP 129Xe ventilation MRI with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for reliable quantitative analysis has not yet been established. In this work, we introduced the reader-based six-zone analysis, which is used with 133Xe and 99mTc ventilation and perfusion scintigraphy, and applied to Rician noise degraded 129Xe ventilation MRI of COPD patients. We found that the minimum required SNR for 6-zone quantification of ventilation is 4.4±5.8 (mean±SD), which suggests a minimum required 129Xe dose equivalent of 89.2 ml for this resolution.
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