Quantitative assessment of emphysema using hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance imaging

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine 2005-06, Vol.53 (6), p.1341-1346
• Main Authors: Spector, Z. Z., Emami, K., Fischer, M. C., Zhu, J., Ishii, M., Vahdat, V., Yu, J., Kadlecek, S., Driehuys, B., Lipson, D. A., Gefter, W., Shrager, J., Rizi, R. R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Disease Models, Animal; functional lung imaging; Helium; hyperpolarized 3He; hyperpolarized gas MRI; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Isotopes; lung ventilation; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; MRI; Pancreatic Elastase; pulmonary emphysema; Pulmonary Emphysema - physiopathology; Pulmonary Ventilation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.20514

In this experiment, Sprague–Dawley rats with elastase‐induced emphysema were imaged using hyperpolarized 3He MRI. Regional fractional ventilation r, the fraction of gas replaced with a single tidal breath, was calculated from a series of images in a wash‐in study of hyperpolarized gas. We compared the regional fractional ventilation in these emphysematous rats to the regional fractional ventilations we calculated from a previous baseline study in healthy Sprague–Dawley rats. We found that there were differences in the maps of fractional ventilation and its associated frequency distribution between the healthy and emphysematous rat lungs. Fractional ventilation tended to be much lower in emphysematous rats than in normal rats. With this information, we can use data on fractional ventilation to regionally distinguish between healthy and emphysematous portions of the lung. The successful implementation of such a technique on a rat model could lead to work toward the future implementation of this technique in human patients. Magn Reson Med 53:1341–1346, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.