Healthy volunteers aged 18-85 will undergo hyperpolarized 129-Xe MRI and pulmonary function testing for the development of tools to assess image signal to noise and reproducibility of spin-density and diffusion-weighted imaging.
Briefly, during a one to two hour visit, subjects will provide written informed consent and then undergo: 1) brief medical history and vital signs, 2) full pulmonary function tests, 3) proton MRI, 4) spin-density, diffusion weighted, and/or dissolved phase 129-Xe MRI. Full pulmonary function tests including spirometry, plethysmography and diffusing capacity of carbon monoxide (DLCO), Multiple Breath Nitrogen Washout (MBNW) to measure Lung Clearance Index (LCI), and Forced Oscillation Technique (FOT) will be performed according to ATS guidelines. MedGraphics Elite Series, MedGraphics Corporation. St. Paul, MN USA and/or nDD EasyOne Spirometer, nDD Medical Technologies Inc. Andover, MA USA will be used. All measurements will be performed in the Pulmonary Function Laboratory at Robarts Research Institute. Subjects will be placed in the 3T MR scanner with one of three 129-Xe chest coils fitted over their torso and chest. Hearing protection will be provided to each subject to muffle the noise produced by the gradient RF coils. A pulse oximeter lead will be attached to all of the subjects to monitor their heart rate and oxygen saturation. MRI will be performed for up to a period of 30 minutes. All subjects will have supplemental oxygen available via nasal cannula at a flow-rate of 2 liters per minute as a precaution in the event of oxygen desaturation.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
50
Hyperpolarized noble gas imaging using Xenon-129 has been used to explore structural and functional relationships in the lung in patients with lung disease and healthy controls. In contrast to proton-based MRI imaging, 129Xe gas is used as a contrast agent to directly visualize the airways, and thus ventilation. Whereas the normal density of gas is too low to produce an easily detectable signal, this is overcome by artificially increasing the amount of polarization per unit volume using optical pumping.
Robarts Research Institute; The University of Western Ontario; London Health Sciences Centre
London, Ontario, Canada
RECRUITINGVentilation Defect Percent (VDP)
Time frame: 5 years
Apparent Diffusion Coefficients (ADC)
Time frame: 5 years
Dissolved Phase Spectroscopy Measurements
129-Xe dissolved phase MRI data will be reconstructed using a re-gridding method. The following ratios will be determined by the area-under-the curve obtained from spectroscopy: red-blood-cell to alveolar membrane ratio (RBC:membrane); RBC to gas ratio (RBC:gas); and the membrane to gas ratio (membrane:gas). Spectroscopic signals will be used to reconstruct perfusion and alveolar membrane maps.
Time frame: 5 years
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