부산대학교 도서관

PURPOSE:: To implement and characterize a single-breath xenon transfer contrast (SB-XTC) method to assess the fractional diffusive gas transport F in the lung: to study the dependence of F and its uniformity as a function of lung volume; to estimate local alveolar surface area per unit gas volume SA/VGas from multiple diffusion time measurements of F; to evaluate the reproducibility of the measurements and the necessity of B1 correction in cases of centric and sequential encoding. MATERIALS AND METHODS:: In SB-XTC three or four gradient echo images separated by inversion/saturation pulses were collected during a breath-hold in eight healthy volunteers, allowing the mapping of F (thus SA/VGas) and correction for other contributions such as T1 relaxation, RF depletion and B1 inhomogeneity from inherently registered data. RESULTS:: Regional values of F and its distribution were obtained; both the mean value and heterogeneity of F increased with the decrease of lung volume. Higher values of F in the bases of the lungs in supine position were observed at lower volumes in all volunteers. Local SA/VGas (with a mean ± standard deviation of SA/VGas = 89±30 cm) was estimated in vivo near functional residual capacity. Calibration of SB-XTC on phantoms highlighted the necessity for B1 corrections when k-space is traversed sequentially; with centric ordering B1 distribution correction is dispensable. CONCLUSION:: The SB-XTC technique is implemented and validated for in vivo measurements of local SA/VGas. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2013;37:457–470. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.