Abstract
Longitudinal relaxation times of 129Xe were measured in homogenates of rat brain, kidney, liver, and lung at varying oxygenation levels as a means to assess the feasibility of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of tissue using laser-polarized (LP) 129Xe as the signal source. The measured relaxation times ranged from 4.4 +/- 0.4 sec in deoxygenated lung homogenate to 22 +/- 2 sec in deoxygenated brain homogenate. When the LP gas is introduced to the subject via inhalation, these relaxation times are long enough to allow accumulation and subsequent MR imaging of LP 129Xe in tissues. Imaging of dissolved LP 129Xe will yield an intrinsic signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) that is approximately 3% of the proton intrinsic SNR. This relatively low intrinsic SNR is expected to be adequate for some tracer applications. T1 of 129Xe was found to depend on the oxygenation level of the tissue, and the effect of oxygenation is likely dependent on the amount of hemoglobin in the tissue homogenate.
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