Clinical oxygen-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the lung

Oxygen-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) ventilation imaging is a new technique, and the full extent of its physiologic significance has not been elucidated. This review article includes (1) theory of oxygen enhancement; (2) respiratory physiology; (3) oxygen-enhanced MR imaging (MRI) sequence design; (4) basic study of oxygen-enhanced MRI in animal models and humans; (5) clinical study of oxygen-enhanced MRI; and (6) merits and demerits of the technique in comparison with hyperpolarized noble gas MR ventilation imaging. Oxygen-enhanced MRI provides not only ventilation-related information but also respiration-related information. Although application of oxygen-enhanced MR ventilation imaging to patients with pulmonary diseases has been limited, oxygen-enhanced MRI offers the possibility of demonstrating regional pulmonary function and substituting for nuclear medicine ventilation-perfusion study, when combined with MR perfusion imaging. We believe that further basic studies and clinical applications of this new technique will define the real significance of oxygen-enhanced MR ventilation imaging in the future of pulmonary functional imaging and its usefulness for diagnostic radiology.