Hyperpolarized Noble Gas Magnetic Resonance Imaging of a Gastric Aspiration Model of Acute Lung Injury in the Rat Lung.

A novel intubation technique for minimally invasive longitudinal studies of rat lungs using hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance imaging

“…2 Furthermore, HNGs can provide quantitative anatomical and functional information within the lungs of ventilated rodents such as ventilation and ventilated volume, perfusion, apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) and diffusing capacity, 3 including rodent models of emphysema, 4 asthma 5 as well as lung injury due to bleomycin, 6 radiation-induced lung injury 7 and gastric aspiration. 8 Typically, special MRI-compatible ventilators are used in conjunction with intubation to ensure consistent and timely HNG breath-holds in rodents; however, this limits the method to endpoint studies requiring larger numbers of animals due to the need for surgery to ensure an airtight seal between the endotracheal (ET) tube and the trachea. An airtight seal prevents the interaction of molecular oxygen with the HNGs which would otherwise destroy the observable MRI signal due to T 1 relaxation.…”