Imaging alveolar-capillary gas transfer using hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI.

ABSTRACT: Effective pulmonary gas exchange relies on the free diffusion of gases across the thin tissue barrier separating airspace from the capillary red blood cells (RBCs). Pulmonary pathologies, such as inflammation, fibrosis, and edema, which cause an increased blood-gas barrier thickness, impair the efficiency of this exchange. However, definitive assessment of such gas-exchange abnormalities is challenging, because no methods currently exist to directly image the gas transfer process. Here we exploit the solubility and chemical shift of (129)Xe, the magnetic resonance signal of which has been enhanced by 10(5) with hyperpolarization, to differentially image its transfer from the airspaces into the tissue barrier spaces and RBCs in the gas exchange regions of the lung. Based on a simple diffusi

SUBMITTER: Driehuys B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1838742 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature