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RF instrumentation for same‐breath triple nuclear lung MR imaging of 1 H and hyperpolarized 3 He and 129 Xe at 1.5T
Author(s) -
Rao Madhwesha,
Wild Jim M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.25680
Subject(s) - radiofrequency coil , nuclear magnetic resonance , physics , xenon , magnetic resonance imaging , electromagnetic coil , nuclear medicine , chemistry , atomic physics , medicine , radiology , quantum mechanics
Purpose The hyperpolarized gases 3 He and 129 Xe have distinct properties and provide unique and complementary functional information from the lungs. A triple‐nuclear, same‐breath imaging examination of the lungs with 1 H, 3 He, and 129 Xe can therefore provide exclusive functional information from the gas images. In addition, the 1 H images provide complementary co‐registered structural information in the same physiological time frame. The goal of this study was to design an RF system for triple nuclear lung MRI at 1.5T, consisting of a dual‐tuned transceiver coil for 3 He and 129 Xe, RF switches and a nested 1 H receiver array. Methods A dual‐tuned transmit‐receive dual‐Helmholtz RF coil for 3 He and 129 Xe was designed and constructed to work in unison with a nested 1 H receiver array. Results Triple‐nuclear imaging (structural and ventilation) and apparent diffusion coefficient mapping of the human lungs was performed in the same breath‐hold using the integrated RF system. B 1 maps and volumetric ventilation imaging using a three‐dimensional, balanced steady‐state free precession pulse sequence performed with both hyperpolarized 3 He and 129 Xe indicate good stand‐alone performance of the coil for the respective nucleus. Conclusion Triple‐nuclear same‐breath lung imaging with a dual‐tuned coil ( 3 He and 129 Xe) and a nested 1 H array has been demonstrated with a custom RF system. Magn Reson Med 75:1841–1848, 2016. © © The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine .