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

摘要

PurposeThe hyperpolarized gases ³He and ¹²⁹Xe have distinct properties and provide unique and complementary functional information from the lungs. A triple‐nuclear, same‐breath imaging examination of the lungs with ¹H, ³He, and ¹²⁹Xe can therefore provide exclusive functional information from the gas images. In addition, the ¹H 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 ³He and ¹²⁹Xe, RF switches and a nested ¹H receiver array.