Abstract
In hyperpolarized (HP) noble-gas magnetic resonance imaging, large nuclear spin polarizations, about 100,000 times that ordinarily obtainable at thermal equilibrium, are created in 3He and 129Xe. The enhanced signal that results can be employed in high-resolution MRI studies of void spaces such as in the lungs. In HP gas MRI the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) depends only weakly on the static magnetic field (B0), making very low-field (VLF) MRI possible; indeed, it is possible to contemplate portable MRI using light-weight solenoids or permanent magnets. This article reports the first in vivo VLF MR images of the lungs in humans and in rats, obtained at a field of only 15 millitesla (150 Gauss).
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 773-776 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
Volume | 21 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2003 |
Funding
We thank Ralph Hashoian, Chih-Liang Chin, Gabriel Gomez, Jamie McKendry, and Alexandra Rockefeller for assistance with MR system components. This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01-HL57563), the National Science Foundation (BES-9617342), the Whitaker Foundation (RG 95-0192), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NAG9-1041).
Keywords
- Helium
- Hyperpolarized
- MRI
- Very low-field
- Xenon
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biophysics
- Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
- Biomedical Engineering