Speaker
Description
Hyperpolarized (HP) gas MRI was previously developed to provide a way to study whole lung ventilation, alveolar morphometry and gas-exchange, with the first demonstration of 129Xe MRI lung imaging nearly 30 years ago. In the ensuing decades, HP gas MRI research has demonstrated that inhaled HP gas lung MRI provides unique measurements for a number of pulmonary diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, asthma, lung cancer, and COVID. This MRI approach allows for visualization and quantification of lung units that participate in ventilation, and differentiating them from non-ventilating regions. This non-invasive, rapidly acquired and radiation-free lung imaging method, provides direct, spatial measurements of lung structure, function, and gas exchange down to the alveoli and acinar ducts.
HP gas 129Xe MRI has been recently FDA approved which means that this imaging technique is now a clinical-tool in USA. It is expected that Canada will also approve this method in near future. 129Xe lung MRI is extremely powerful and the only radiation-free tool for lung structure and function measurements. The proposed program and requested infrastructure will provide new tools for accurate lung damage assessment, therapy guidance, and evaluation of treatment outcomes. This is not only critical for the almost 6 million Canadians with asthma (3.8 million) and COPD (2.0 million), but also to the 3.5 million Canadians who were infected by COVID-19 in 2020 - 2022 and experienced lung damage (up to 10% infected) as a result. They will require longitudinal observation of the lung structure and function to best understand and manage the short and long-term health effects and to determine the impact of treatment strategies. The new tools being developed here will enable this.
There are a number of benefits associated with 129Xe brain MRI. First, 129Xe MRI brain perfusion images show a larger area of the brain affected by stroke compared to the traditional proton MRI, which can be an important and more accurate second stoke predictor, keeping in mind, that stroke is the 3rd leading cause of death in Canada and the 10th largest contributor to disability-adjusted life years (the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death). As such, having these tools is so important in the management and prevention of stroke.
| Keyword-1 | Hyperpolarized gas MRI |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Lung |
| Keyword-3 | Brain |
