Quantitative analysis of hyperpolarized Xe gas transfer MRI.

Purpose: Hyperpolarized Xe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using Dixon-based decomposition enables single-breath imaging of Xe in the airspaces, interstitial barrier tissues, and red blood cells (RBCs). However, methods to quantitatively visualize information from these images of pulmonary gas transfer are lacking. Here, we introduce a novel method to transform these data into quantitative maps of pulmonary ventilation, and Xe gas transfer to barrier and RBC compartments.

Three-dimensional echo-planar cine imaging of cerebral blood supply using arterial spin labeling.

Objective: Echo-planar imaging (EPI) with CYlindrical Center-out spatiaL Encoding (EPICYCLE) is introduced as a novel hybrid three-dimensional (3D) EPI technique. Its suitability for the tracking of a short bolus created by pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) through the cerebral vasculature is demonstrated.

Materials And Methods: EPICYCLE acquires two-dimensional planes of k-space along center-out trajectories.