RF instrumentation for same‐breath triple nuclear lung MR imaging of 1H and hyperpolarized 3He and 129Xe at 1.5T

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. B1 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.