Quantification of regional fractional ventilation in human subjects by measurement of hyperpolarized 3He washout with 2D and 3D MRI

Multiple-breath washout hyperpolarized He-3 MRI was used to calculate regional parametric images of fractional ventilation (r) as the ratio of fresh gas entering a volume unit to the total end inspiratory volume of the unit. Using a single dose of inhaled hyperpolarized gas and a total acquisition time of under 1 min, gas washout was measured by dynamic acquisitions during successive breaths with a fixed delay. A two-dimensional (2D) imaging protocol was investigated in four healthy subjects in the supine position, and in a second protocol the capability of extending the washout imaging to a three-dimensional (3D) acquisition covering the whole lungs was tested. During both protocols, subjects were breathing comfortably, only restricted by synchronization of breathing to the sequence timings. The 3D protocol was also successfully tested on one patient with cystic fibrosis. Mean r values from each volunteer were compared with global gas volume turnover, as calculated from flow measurement at the mouth divided by total lung volume (from MRI images), and a significant correlation (r = 0.74, P < 0.05) was found. The effects of gravity on R were investigated, and an average decrease in r of 5.5%/cm (Delta r = 0.016 +/- 0.006 cm(-1)) from posterior to anterior was found in the right lung. Intersubject reproducibility of r imaging with the 2D and 3D protocol was tested, and a significant correlation between repeated experiments was found in a pixel-by-pixel comparison. The proposed methods can be used to measure r on a regional basis.