Hyperpolarized Xenon Brain MRI

Abstract

Since hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI was first demonstrated in the lung, air space imaging using hyperpolarized noble gases (129Xe and 3He) has progressed at a rapid rate (Goodson, 2002; Zhou, 2011c). Owing to high lipid solubility, absence of background signal in biological tissue, non-invasiveness, lack of radioactivity, different relaxation to oxygenated and deoxygenated blood, and larger chemical shift to the neighbor environment, hyperpolarized 129Xe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has a great potential as a tool for studying the brain, especially for the assessment of cerebral blood flow (CBF) related to the brain function and activities.