Comparison of in vivo lung morphometry models from 3D multiple b-value3He and129Xe diffusion-weighted MRI

Assessment of pulmonary physiological changes caused by aging, cigarette smoking, and COPD with hyperpolarized 129Xe magnetic resonance

OBJECTIVE

To comprehensively assess the impact of aging, cigarette smoking, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on pulmonary physiology using 129Xe MR.

METHODS

A total of 90 subjects were categorized into four groups, including healthy young (HY, n = 20), age-matched control (AMC, n = 20), asymptomatic smokers (AS, n = 28), and COPD patients (n = 22). 129Xe MR was utilized to obtain pulmonary physiological parameters, including ventilation defect percent (VDP), alveolar sleeve depth (h), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), total septal wall thickness (d), and ratio of xenon signal from red blood cells and interstitial tissue/plasma (RBC/TP).

RESULTS

Significant differences were found in the measured VDP (p = 0.035), h (p = 0.003), and RBC/TP (p = 0.003) between the HY and AMC groups. Compared with the AMC group, higher VDP (p = 0.020) and d (p = 0.048) were found in the AS group; higher VDP (p < 0.001), d (p < 0.001) and ADC (p < 0.001), and lower h (p < 0.001) and RBC/TP (p < 0.001) were found in the COPD group. Moreover, significant differences were also found in the measured VDP (p < 0.001), h (p < 0.001), ADC (p < 0.001), d (p = 0.008), and RBC/TP (p = 0.032) between the AS and COPD groups.

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate that pulmonary structure and functional changes caused by aging, cigarette smoking, and COPD are various, and show a progressive deterioration with the accumulation of these risk factors, including cigarette smoking and COPD.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT

Pathophysiological changes can be difficult to comprehensively understand due to limitations in common techniques and multifactorial etiologies. 129Xe MRI can demonstrate structural and functional changes caused by several common factors and can be used to better understand patients' underlying pathology.

KEY POINTS

Standard techniques for assessing pathophysiological lung function changes, spirometry, and chest CT come with limitations. 129Xe MR demonstrated progressive deterioration with accumulation of the investigated risk factors, without these limitations. 129Xe MR can assess lung changes related to these risk factors to stage and evaluate the etiology of the disease.

Functional lung imaging using novel and emerging MRI techniques

Respiratory diseases are leading causes of death and disability in the world. While early diagnosis is key, this has proven difficult due to the lack of sensitive and non-invasive tools. Computed tomography is regarded as the gold standard for structural lung imaging but lacks functional information and involves significant radiation exposure. Lung magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has historically been challenging due to its short T2 and low proton density. Hyperpolarised gas MRI is an emerging technique that is able to overcome these difficulties, permitting the functional and microstructural evaluation of the lung. Other novel imaging techniques such as fluorinated gas MRI, oxygen-enhanced MRI, Fourier decomposition MRI and phase-resolved functional lung imaging can also be used to interrogate lung function though they are currently at varying stages of development. This article provides a clinically focused review of these contrast and non-contrast MR imaging techniques and their current applications in lung disease.

Assessment of pulmonary morphometry using hyperpolarized 129 Xe diffusion-weighted MRI with variable-sampling-ratio compressed sensing patterns

BACKGROUND

Hyperpolarized (HP) ¹²⁹ Xe multiple b-values diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) has been widely used for quantifying pulmonary microstructural morphometry. However, the technique requires long acquisition times, making it hard to apply in patients with severe pulmonary diseases, who cannot sustain long breath holds.

PURPOSE

To develop and evaluate the technique of variable-sampling-ratio compressed sensing (VCS) patterns for accelerating HP ¹²⁹ Xe multiple b-values DW-MRI in humans.

METHODS

Optimal variable sampling ratios and corresponding k-space undersampling patterns for each b-value were obtained by retrospective simulations based on the fully sampled (FS) DW-MRI dataset acquired from six young healthy volunteers. Then, the FS datasets were retrospectively undersampled using both VCS patterns and conventional compressed sensing (CS) pattern with a similar average acceleration factor. The quality of reconstructed images with retrospective VCS (rVCS) and CS (rCS) datasets were quantified using mean absolute error (MAE) and structural similarity (SSIM). Pulmonary morphometric parameters were also evaluated between rVCS and FS datasets. In addition, prospective VCS multiple b-values ¹²⁹ Xe DW-MRI datasets were acquired from 14 cigarette smokers and 13 age-matched healthy volunteers. The differences of lung morphological parameters obtained with the proposed method were compared between the groups using independent samples t-test. Pearson correlation coefficient was also utilized for evaluating the correlation of the pulmonary physiological parameters obtained with VCS DW-MRI and pulmonary function tests.

RESULTS

Lower MAE and higher SSIM values were found in the reconstructed images with rVCS measurement when compared to those using conventional rCS measurement. The details and quality of the images obtained with rVCS and FS measurements were found to be comparable. The mean values of the morphological parameters derived from rVCS and FS datasets showed no significant differences (p > 0.05), and the mean differences of measured acinar duct radius, mean linear intercept, surface-to-volume ratio, and apparent diffusion coefficient with cylinder model were -0.87%, -2.42%, 2.04%, and -0.50%, respectively. By using the VCS technique, significant differences were delineated between the pulmonary morphometric parameters of healthy volunteers and cigarette smokers (p < 0.001), while the acquisition time was reduced by four times.

CONCLUSION

A fourfold reduction in acquisition time was achieved using the proposed VCS method while preserving good image quality. Our preliminary results demonstrated that the proposed method can be used for evaluating pulmonary injuries caused by cigarette smoking and may prove to be helpful in diagnosing lung diseases in clinical practice.

Feasibility of Dynamic Inhaled Gas MRI-Based Measurements Using Acceleration Combined with the Stretched Exponential Model

Dynamic inhaled gas (³He/¹²⁹Xe/¹⁹F) MRI permits the acquisition of regional fractional-ventilation which is useful for detecting gas-trapping in lung-diseases such as lung fibrosis and COPD. Deninger's approach used for analyzing the wash-out data can be substituted with the stretched-exponential-model (SEM) because signal-intensity is attenuated as a function of wash-out-breath in ¹⁹F lung imaging. Thirteen normal-rats were studied using ³He/¹²⁹Xe and ¹⁹F MRI and the ventilation measurements were performed using two 3T clinical-scanners. Two Cartesian-sampling-schemes (Fast-Gradient-Recalled-Echo/X-Centric) were used to test the proposed method. The fully sampled dynamic wash-out images were retrospectively under-sampled (acceleration-factors (AF) of 10/14) using a varying-sampling-pattern in the wash-out direction. Mean fractional-ventilation maps using Deninger's and SEM-based approaches were generated. The mean fractional-ventilation-values generated for the fully sampled k-space case using the Deninger method were not significantly different from other fractional-ventilation-values generated for the non-accelerated/accelerated data using both Deninger and SEM methods (p > 0.05 for all cases/gases). We demonstrated the feasibility of the SEM-based approach using retrospective under-sampling, mimicking AF = 10/14 in a small-animal-cohort from the previously reported dynamic-lung studies. A pixel-by-pixel comparison of the Deninger-derived and SEM-derived fractional-ventilation-estimates obtained for AF = 10/14 (≤16% difference) has confirmed that even at AF = 14, the accuracy of the estimates is high enough to consider this method for prospective measurements.

Image Phenotyping of Preterm-Born Children Using Hyperpolarized 129Xe Lung Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Multiple-Breath Washout

Rationale: Preterm birth is associated with low lung function in childhood, but little is known about the lung microstructure in childhood. Objectives: We assessed the differential associations between the historical diagnosis of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and current lung function phenotypes on lung ventilation and microstructure in preterm-born children using hyperpolarized 129Xe ventilation and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and multiple-breath washout (MBW). Methods: Data were available from 63 children (aged 9-13 yr), including 44 born preterm (⩽34 weeks' gestation) and 19 term-born control subjects (⩾37 weeks' gestation). Preterm-born children were classified, using spirometry, as prematurity-associated obstructive lung disease (POLD; FEV1 < lower limit of normal [LLN] and FEV1/FVC < LLN), prematurity-associated preserved ratio of impaired spirometry (FEV1 < LLN and FEV1/FVC ⩾ LLN), preterm-(FEV1 ⩾ LLN) and term-born control subjects, and those with and without BPD. Ventilation heterogeneity metrics were derived from 129Xe ventilation MRI and SF6 MBW. Alveolar microstructural dimensions were derived from 129Xe diffusion-weighted MRI. Measurements and Main Results: 129Xe ventilation defect percentage and ventilation heterogeneity index were significantly increased in preterm-born children with POLD. In contrast, mean 129Xe apparent diffusion coefficient, 129Xe apparent diffusion coefficient interquartile range, and 129Xe mean alveolar dimension interquartile range were significantly increased in preterm-born children with BPD, suggesting changes of alveolar dimensions. MBW metrics were all significantly increased in the POLD group compared with preterm- and term-born control subjects. Linear regression confirmed the differential effects of obstructive disease on ventilation defects and BPD on lung microstructure. Conclusion: We show that ventilation abnormalities are associated with POLD, and BPD in infancy is associated with abnormal lung microstructure.

Nichtinvasive funktionelle Lungenbildgebung mit hyperpolarisiertem Xenon

Hintergrund

Die Magnetresonanztomographie (MRT) ist ein nichtinvasives Verfahren mit hervorragendem Weichteilkontrast. Aufgrund der geringen Protonendichte und vielen Luft-Gewebe-Übergängen ist die Anwendung in der Lunge jedoch eingeschränkt, so dass hier häufig röntgenbasierte Methoden eingesetzt werden (mit den bekannten Nachteilen ionisierender Strahlung).

Fragestellung

In dieser Übersichtsarbeit wird die Lungen-MRT mit hyperpolarisiertem Xenon-129 (Xe-MRT) dargestellt. Die Xe-MRT erlaubt einzigartige wertvolle Einblicke in die Mikrostruktur und Funktion der Lunge, einschließlich des Gasaustauschs mit roten Blutkörperchen – Parameter, die mit klinischen Standardmethoden nicht zugänglich sind.

Material und Methoden

Durch die magnetische Markierung, die Hyperpolarisierung, wird das Signal von Xenon-129 um bis zu 100.000-fach verstärkt. Hierbei werden die Elektronen von Rubidium mittels Laserlicht zunächst auf 100 % polarisiert und dann durch Stöße auf Xenon übertragen. Danach wird das hyperpolarisierte Gas in einem Beutel zum Patienten gebracht und eingeatmet, kurz bevor die MRT-Aufnahmen beginnen.

Ergebnisse

Durch spezielle Programmierungen (Sequenzen) in der MRT kann die Ventilation, Mikrostruktur oder der Gasaustausch der Lunge in 3‑D dargestellt werden. Dies ermöglicht z. B. die quantitative Darstellung von Belüftungsdefekten, der Größe der Alveolen, der Gasaufnahme im Gewebe und des Gastransfers ins Blut.

Schlussfolgerung

Die Xe-MRT liefert einzigartige Informationen über den Zustand der Lunge – nichtinvasiv, in vivo und in weniger als einer Minute.

Lung MRI with hyperpolarised gases: current & future clinical perspectives

The use of pulmonary MRI in a clinical setting has historically been limited. Whilst CT remains the gold-standard for structural lung imaging in many clinical indications, technical developments in ultrashort and zero echo time MRI techniques are beginning to help realise non-ionising structural imaging in certain lung disorders. In this invited review, we discuss a complementary technique - hyperpolarised (HP) gas MRI with inhaled ³He and ¹²⁹Xe - a method for functional and microstructural imaging of the lung that has great potential as a clinical tool for early detection and improved understanding of pathophysiology in many lung diseases. HP gas MRI now has the potential to make an impact on clinical management by enabling safe, sensitive monitoring of disease progression and response to therapy. With reference to the significant evidence base gathered over the last two decades, we review HP gas MRI studies in patients with a range of pulmonary disorders, including COPD/emphysema, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and interstitial lung disease. We provide several examples of our experience in Sheffield of using these techniques in a diagnostic clinical setting in challenging adult and paediatric lung diseases.

Imaging in Asthma Management

Asthma is a heterogeneous disease characterized by chronic airway inflammation that affects more than 300 million people worldwide. Clinically, asthma has a widely variable presentation and is defined based on a history of respiratory symptoms alongside airflow limitation. Imaging is not needed to confirm a diagnosis of asthma, and thus the use of imaging in asthma has historically been limited to excluding alternative diagnoses. However, significant advances continue to be made in novel imaging methodologies, which have been increasingly used to better understand respiratory impairment in asthma. As a disease primarily impacting the airways, asthma is best understood by imaging methods with the ability to elucidate airway impairment. Techniques such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging with gaseous contrast agents, and positron emission tomography enable assessment of the small airways. Others, such as optical coherence tomography and endobronchial ultrasound enable high-resolution imaging of the large airways accessible to bronchoscopy. These imaging techniques are providing new insights in the pathophysiology and treatments of asthma and are poised to impact the clinical management of asthma.

Accelerate gas diffusion-weighted MRI for lung morphometry with deep learning

OBJECTIVES

Multiple b-value gas diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) enables non-invasive and quantitative assessment of lung morphometry, but its long acquisition time is not well-tolerated by patients. We aimed to accelerate multiple b-value gas DW-MRI for lung morphometry using deep learning.

METHODS

A deep cascade of residual dense network (DC-RDN) was developed to reconstruct high-quality DW images from highly undersampled k-space data. Hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe lung ventilation images were acquired from 101 participants and were retrospectively collected to generate synthetic DW-MRI data to train the DC-RDN. Afterwards, the performance of the DC-RDN was evaluated on retrospectively and prospectively undersampled multiple b-value ¹²⁹Xe MRI datasets.

RESULTS

Each slice with size of 64 × 64 × 5 could be reconstructed within 7.2 ms. For the retrospective test data, the DC-RDN showed significant improvement on all quantitative metrics compared with the conventional reconstruction methods (p < 0.05). The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and morphometry parameters were not significantly different between the fully sampled and DC-RDN reconstructed images (p > 0.05). For the prospectively accelerated acquisition, the required breath-holding time was reduced from 17.8 to 4.7 s with an acceleration factor of 4. Meanwhile, the prospectively reconstructed results showed good agreement with the fully sampled images, with a mean difference of -0.72% and -0.74% regarding global mean ADC and mean linear intercept (L_m) values.

CONCLUSIONS

DC-RDN is effective in accelerating multiple b-value gas DW-MRI while maintaining accurate estimation of lung microstructural morphometry, facilitating the clinical potential of studying lung diseases with hyperpolarized DW-MRI.

KEY POINTS

• The deep cascade of residual dense network allowed fast and high-quality reconstruction of multiple b-value gas diffusion-weighted MRI at an acceleration factor of 4. • The apparent diffusion coefficient and morphometry parameters were not significantly different between the fully sampled images and the reconstructed results (p > 0.05). • The required breath-holding time was reduced from 17.8 to 4.7 s and each slice with size of 64 × 64 × 5 could be reconstructed within 7.2 ms.

Protocols for multi-site trials using hyperpolarized 129 Xe MRI for imaging of ventilation, alveolar-airspace size, and gas exchange: A position paper from the 129 Xe MRI clinical trials consortium

Hyperpolarized (HP) ¹²⁹ Xe MRI uniquely images pulmonary ventilation, gas exchange, and terminal airway morphology rapidly and safely, providing novel information not possible using conventional imaging modalities or pulmonary function tests. As such, there is mounting interest in expanding the use of biomarkers derived from HP ¹²⁹ Xe MRI as outcome measures in multi-site clinical trials across a range of pulmonary disorders. Until recently, HP ¹²⁹ Xe MRI techniques have been developed largely independently at a limited number of academic centers, without harmonizing acquisition strategies. To promote uniformity and adoption of HP ¹²⁹ Xe MRI more widely in translational research, multi-site trials, and ultimately clinical practice, this position paper from the ¹²⁹ Xe MRI Clinical Trials Consortium (https://cpir.cchmc.org/XeMRICTC) recommends standard protocols to harmonize methods for image acquisition in HP ¹²⁹ Xe MRI. Recommendations are described for the most common HP gas MRI techniques-calibration, ventilation, alveolar-airspace size, and gas exchange-across MRI scanner manufacturers most used for this application. Moreover, recommendations are described for ¹²⁹ Xe dose volumes and breath-hold standardization to further foster consistency of imaging studies. The intention is that sites with HP ¹²⁹ Xe MRI capabilities can readily implement these methods to obtain consistent high-quality images that provide regional insight into lung structure and function. While this document represents consensus at a snapshot in time, a roadmap for technical developments is provided that will further increase image quality and efficiency. These standardized dosing and imaging protocols will facilitate the wider adoption of HP ¹²⁹ Xe MRI for multi-site pulmonary research.

Ventilation heterogeneity imaged by multibreath wash-ins of hyperpolarized 3 He and 129 Xe in healthy rabbits

KEY POINTS

Multibreath imaging to estimate regional gas mixing efficiency is superior to intensity-based single-breath ventilation markers, as it is capable of revealing minute but essential measures of ventilation heterogeneity which may be sensitive to subclinical alterations in the early stages of both obstructive and restrictive respiratory disorders. Large-scale convective stratification of ventilation in central-to-peripheral directions is the dominant feature of observed ventilation heterogeneity when imaging a heavy/less diffusive xenon gas mixture; smaller-scale patchiness, probably originating from asymmetric lung function at bronchial airway branching due to the interaction of convective and diffusive flows, is the dominant feature when imaging a lighter/more diffusive helium gas mixture. Since detecting low regional ventilation is crucial for characterizing diseased lungs, our results suggest that dilution with natural abundance helium and imaging at higher lung volumes seem advisable when imaging with hyperpolarized ¹²⁹ Xe; this will allow the imaging gas to reach slow-filling and/or non-dependent lung regions, which might otherwise be impossible to distinguish from total ventilation shunt regions. The ability to differentiate these regions from those of total shunt is worse with typical single-breath imaging techniques.

ABSTRACT

The mixing of freshly inhaled gas with gas already present in the lung can be directly assessed with heretofore unachievable precision via magnetic resonance imaging of signal build-up resulting from multiple wash-ins of a hyperpolarized (HP) gas. Here, we used normoxic HP ³ He and ¹²⁹ Xe mixtures to study regional ventilation at different spatial scales in five healthy mechanically ventilated supine rabbits at two different inspired volumes. To decouple the respective effects of density and diffusion rates on ventilation heterogeneity, two additional studies were performed: one in which ³ He was diluted with an equal fraction of natural abundance xenon, and one in which ¹²⁹ Xe was diluted with an equal fraction of ⁴ He. We observed systematic differences in the spatial scale of specific ventilation heterogeneity between HP ³ He and ¹²⁹ Xe. We found that large-scale, central-to-peripheral convective ventilation inhomogeneity is the dominant cause of observed heterogeneity when breathing a normoxic xenon gas mixture. In contrast, small-scale ventilation heterogeneity in the form of patchiness, probably originating from asymmetric lung function at bronchial airway branching due to interactions between convective and diffusive flows, is the dominant feature when breathing a normoxic helium gas mixture, for which the critical zone occurs more proximally and at an imageable spatial scale. We also showed that the existence of particular underventilated non-dependent lung regions when breathing a heavy gas mixture is the result of the density of that mixture - rather than, for example, its diffusion rate or viscosity. Finally, we showed that gravity-dependent ventilation heterogeneity becomes substantially more uniform at higher inspired volumes for xenon gas mixtures compared to helium mixtures.

State-of-the-art MR Imaging for Thoracic Diseases

Since thoracic MR imaging was first used in a clinical setting, it has been suggested that MR imaging has limited clinical utility for thoracic diseases, especially lung diseases, in comparison with x-ray CT and positron emission tomography (PET)/CT. However, in many countries and states and for specific indications, MR imaging has recently become practicable. In addition, recently developed pulmonary MR imaging with ultra-short TE (UTE) and zero TE (ZTE) has enhanced the utility of MR imaging for thoracic diseases in routine clinical practice. Furthermore, MR imaging has been introduced as being capable of assessing pulmonary function. It should be borne in mind, however, that these applications have so far been academically and clinically used only for healthy volunteers, but not for patients with various pulmonary diseases in Japan or other countries. In 2020, the Fleischner Society published a new report, which provides consensus expert opinions regarding appropriate clinical indications of pulmonary MR imaging for not only oncologic but also pulmonary diseases. This review article presents a brief history of MR imaging for thoracic diseases regarding its technical aspects and major clinical indications in Japan 1) in terms of what is currently available, 2) promising but requiring further validation or evaluation, and 3) developments warranting research investigations in preclinical or patient studies. State-of-the-art MR imaging can non-invasively visualize lung structural and functional abnormalities without ionizing radiation and thus provide an alternative to CT. MR imaging is considered as a tool for providing unique information. Moreover, prospective, randomized, and multi-center trials should be conducted to directly compare MR imaging with conventional methods to determine whether the former has equal or superior clinical relevance. The results of these trials together with continued improvements are expected to update or modify recommendations for the use of MRI in near future.

Validating in vivo hyperpolarized 129 Xe diffusion MRI and diffusion morphometry in the mouse lung

PURPOSE

Diffusion and lung morphometry imaging using hyperpolarized gases are promising tools to quantify pulmonary microstructure noninvasively in humans and in animal models. These techniques assume the motion encoded is exclusively diffusive gas displacement, but the impact of cardiac motion on measurements has never been explored. Furthermore, although diffusion morphometry has been validated against histology in humans and mice using 3 He, it has never been validated in mice for 129 Xe. Here, we examine the effect of cardiac motion on diffusion imaging and validate 129 Xe diffusion morphometry in mice.

THEORY AND METHODS

Mice were imaged using gradient-echo-based diffusion imaging, and apparent diffusion-coefficient (ADC) maps were generated with and without cardiac gating. Diffusion-weighted images were fit to a previously developed theoretical model using Bayesian probability theory, producing morphometric parameters that were compared with conventional histology.

RESULTS

Cardiac gating had no significant impact on ADC measurements (dual-gating: ADC = 0.020 cm2 /s, single-gating: ADC = 0.020 cm2 /s; P = .38). Diffusion-morphometry-generated maps of ADC (mean, 0.0165 ± 0.0001 cm2 /s) and acinar dimensions (alveolar sleeve depth [h] = 44 µm, acinar duct radii [R] = 99 µm, mean linear intercept [Lm ] = 74 µm) that agreed well with conventional histology (h = 45 µm, R = 108 µm, Lm = 63 µm).

CONCLUSION

Cardiac motion has negligible impact on 129 Xe ADC measurements in mice, arguing its impact will be similarly minimal in humans, where relative cardiac motion is reduced. Hyperpolarized 129 Xe diffusion morphometry accurately and noninvasively maps the dimensions of lung microstructure, suggesting it can quantify the pulmonary microstructure in mouse models of lung disease.

Finite element simulations of hyperpolarized gas DWI in micro-CT meshes of acinar airways: validating the cylinder and stretched exponential models of lung microstructural length scales

PURPOSE

This work assesses the accuracy of the stretched exponential (SEM) and cylinder models of lung microstructural length scales that can be derived from hyperpolarized gas DWI. This was achieved by simulating ³ He and ¹²⁹ Xe DWI signals within two micro-CT-derived realistic acinar airspace meshes that represent healthy and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis lungs.

METHODS

The healthy and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis acinar airway meshes were derived from segmentations of 3D micro-CT images of excised human lungs and meshed for finite element simulations of the Bloch-Torrey equations. ³ He and ¹²⁹ Xe multiple b value DWI experiments across a range of diffusion times (³ He Δ = 1.6 ms; ¹²⁹ Xe Δ = 5 to 20 ms) were simulated in each mesh. Global SEM mean diffusive length scale and cylinder model mean chord length value was derived from each finite element simulation and compared against each mesh's mean linear intercept length, calculated from intercept length measurements within micro-CT segmentation masks.

RESULTS

The SEM-derived mean diffusive length scale was within ±10% of the mean linear intercept length for simulations with both ³ He (Δ = 1.6 ms) and ¹²⁹ Xe (Δ = 7 to 13 ms) in the healthy mesh, and with ¹²⁹ Xe (Δ = 13 to 20 ms) for the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis mesh, whereas for the cylinder model-derived mean chord length the closest agreement with mean linear intercept length (11.7% and 22.6% difference) was at ¹²⁹ Xe Δ = 20 ms for both healthy and IPF meshes, respectively.

CONCLUSION

This work validates the use of the SEM for accurate estimation of acinar dimensions and indicates that the SEM is relatively robust across a range of experimental conditions and acinar length scales.

In vivo methods and applications of xenon-129 magnetic resonance

Hyperpolarised gas lung MRI using xenon-129 can provide detailed 3D images of the ventilated lung airspaces, and can be applied to quantify lung microstructure and detailed aspects of lung function such as gas exchange. It is sensitive to functional and structural changes in early lung disease and can be used in longitudinal studies of disease progression and therapy response. The ability of ¹²⁹Xe to dissolve into the blood stream and its chemical shift sensitivity to its local environment allow monitoring of gas exchange in the lungs, perfusion of the brain and kidneys, and blood oxygenation. This article reviews the methods and applications of in vivo¹²⁹Xe MR in humans, with a focus on the physics of polarisation by optical pumping, radiofrequency coil and pulse sequence design, and the in vivo applications of ¹²⁹Xe MRI and MRS to examine lung ventilation, microstructure and gas exchange, blood oxygenation, and perfusion of the brain and kidneys.

Expanding Applications of Pulmonary MRI in the Clinical Evaluation of Lung Disorders: Fleischner Society Position Paper

Pulmonary MRI provides structural and quantitative functional images of the lungs without ionizing radiation, but it has had limited clinical use due to low signal intensity from the lung parenchyma. The lack of radiation makes pulmonary MRI an ideal modality for pediatric examinations, pregnant women, and patients requiring serial and longitudinal follow-up. Fortunately, recent MRI techniques, including ultrashort echo time and zero echo time, are expanding clinical opportunities for pulmonary MRI. With the use of multicoil parallel acquisitions and acceleration methods, these techniques make pulmonary MRI practical for evaluating lung parenchymal and pulmonary vascular diseases. The purpose of this Fleischner Society position paper is to familiarize radiologists and other interested clinicians with these advances in pulmonary MRI and to stratify the Society recommendations for the clinical use of pulmonary MRI into three categories: (a) suggested for current clinical use, (b) promising but requiring further validation or regulatory approval, and (c) appropriate for research investigations. This position paper also provides recommendations for vendors and infrastructure, identifies methods for hypothesis-driven research, and suggests opportunities for prospective, randomized multicenter trials to investigate and validate lung MRI methods.

Application of a stretched-exponential model for morphometric analysis of accelerated diffusion-weighted 129Xe MRI of the rat lung

OBJECTIVE

Diffusion-weighted, hyperpolarized ¹²⁹Xe MRI is useful for the characterization of microstructural changes in the lung. A stretched exponential model was proposed for morphometric extraction of the mean chord length (L_m) from diffusion-weighted data. The stretched exponential model enables accelerated mapping of L_m in a single-breathhold using compressed sensing. Our purpose was to compare L_m maps obtained from stretched-exponential model analysis of accelerated versus unaccelerated diffusion-weighted ¹²⁹Xe MRI data obtained from healthy/injured rat lungs.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

L_m maps were generated using a stretched-exponential model analysis of previously acquired fully sampled diffusion-weighted ¹²⁹Xe rat data (b values = 0 … 110 s/cm²) and compared to L_m maps generated from retrospectively undersampled data simulating acceleration factors of 7/10. The data included four control rats and five rats receiving whole-lung irradiation to mimic radiation-induced lung injury. Mean L_m obtained from the accelerated/unaccelerated maps were compared to histological mean linear intercept.

RESULTS

Accelerated L_m estimates were similar to unaccelerated L_m estimates in all rats, and similar to those previously reported (< 12% different). L_m was significantly reduced (p < 0.001) in the irradiated rat cohort (90 ± 20 µm/90 ± 20 µm) compared to the control rats (110 ± 20 µm/100 ± 15 µm) and agreed well with histological mean linear intercept.

DISCUSSION

Accelerated mapping of L_m using a stretched-exponential model analysis is feasible, accurate and agrees with histological mean linear intercept. Acceleration reduces scan time, thus should be considered for the characterization of lung microstructural changes in humans where breath-hold duration is short.

Accelerated 129 Xe MRI morphometry of terminal airspace enlargement: Feasibility in volunteers and those with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency

PURPOSE

Multi-b diffusion-weighted hyperpolarized inhaled-gas MRI provides imaging biomarkers of terminal airspace enlargement including ADC and mean linear intercept (L_m ), but clinical translation has been limited because image acquisition requires relatively long or multiple breath-holds that are not well-tolerated by patients. Therefore, we aimed to accelerate single breath-hold 3D multi-b diffusion-weighted ¹²⁹ Xe MRI, using k-space undersampling in imaging direction using a different undersampling pattern for different b-values combined with the stretched exponential model to generate maps of ventilation, apparent transverse relaxation time constant ( T 2 ∗ ), ADC, and L_m values in a single, short breath-hold; accelerated and non-accelerated measurements were directly compared.

METHODS

We evaluated multi-b (0, 12, 20, 30, and 45.5 s/cm² ) diffusion-weighted ¹²⁹ Xe T 2 ∗ /ADC/morphometry estimates using acceleration factor (AF = 1 and 7) and multi-breath sampling in 3 volunteers (HV), and 6 participants with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD).

RESULTS

For the HV subgroup, mean differences of 5%, 2%, and 8% were observed between fully sampled and undersampled k-space for ADC, L_m , and T 2 ∗ values, respectively. For the AATD subgroup, mean differences were 9%, 6%, and 12% between fully sampled and undersampled k-space for ADC, L_m and T 2 ∗ values, respectively. Although mean differences of 1% and 4.5% were observed between accelerated and multi-breath sampled ADC and L_m values, respectively, mean ADC/L_m estimates were not significantly different from corresponding mean ADC^M /L_m ^M or mean ADC^A /L_m ^A estimates (all P > 0.60 , ^A = undersampled and ^M = multi-breath sampled).

CONCLUSIONS

Accelerated multi-b diffusion-weighted ¹²⁹ Xe MRI is feasible at AF = 7 for generating pulmonary ADC and L_m in AATD and normal lung.