JoVE | Peer Reviewed Scientific Video Journal

TOPICAL COLLECTIONS

Studying Lung Structure and Function Using Pulmonary MRI

Guest Editors

Peter Niedbalski

University of Kansas Medical Center

Dr. Peter Niedbalski received his BS in Mathematics and Physics at Benedictine College and his PhD in Physics at The University of Texas at Dallas. After focusing on the hyperpolarization of 13C-labeled molecules for his PhD, he transitioned to pulmonary imaging using hyperpolarized 129Xe during his post-doctoral fellowship in the Center for Pulmonary Imaging Research at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. He is a research assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center. His main research focuses on using hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI to better understand lung structure and function in the context of health and lung disease. In addition, he is interested in developing and harmonizing MRI-based lung imaging protocols that can be used broadly across sites and vendor platforms.

David Mummy

Duke University

Dr. David Mummy received his BA in Mathematics and Physics from Whitman College and his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His graduate work focused on applications of hyperpolarized gas imaging in asthma, and he worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Driehuys Lab at Duke University, he expanded his hyperpolarized gas research to include COPD and fibrotic lung diseases. He is now an assistant professor in the Department of Radiology at Duke University with a focus on clinical applications of 129Xe MRI, including multimodal analyses with CT and the harmonization of image analysis methods for use in multisite studies and clinical trials.

Sean B. Fain

University of Iowa Health Care, Department of Radiology

Sean B. Fain, PhD is a Professor of the Radiology Division of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Imaging; Vice Chair for the Research Department of Radiology. Dr. Fain's lab develops and improves advanced quantitative lung imaging methods using hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI, oxygen-enhanced ultra-short time to echo (OE-UTE) MRI and chest CT with the goal of early detection and monitoring of chronic lung diseases. He is a past co-chair of the Quantitative Imaging Biomarker Alliance (QIBA) subcommittee on CT lung density analysis, is a senior fellow of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), and a distinguished investigator of the Academy of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research.

Collection Overview

Historically, the use of MRI in the lungs has been limited by the challenges of low tissue density, respiratory and cardiac motion, and the fast relaxation time of MRI signal intensity. However, recent improvements to MRI acquisition methods and the introduction of novel contrast mechanisms are leading to an increased usage of pulmonary MRI for research and the clinical care of patients. These non-invasive, ionizing-radiation-free, 3D tomographic imaging methods can potentially transform the clinical care of patients with lung disease.

However, their use is limited to a few expert centers because of technical complexity and vendor support. This high level of specialization has also led to a range of acquisition and analysis methods that can vary substantially across sites. So, for the broader adoption of pulmonary MRI, current expert sites need to work together to reach a consensus on acquisition and analysis methods and to disseminate their methods in an open-source and reproducible fashion.

In this JoVE Methods Collection, we bring together experts in pulmonary MRI methods to explain their novel techniques for imaging the structure and function of the lungs. With this collection, we hope to provide a means for broader application of the most promising and effective lung MRI techniques in this rapidly growing area.