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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Quantitative Mapping of Specific Ventilation in the Human Lung using Proton Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Oxygen as a Contrast Agent
Published on: June 5, 2019
Relaxation and diffusion of perfluorocarbon gas mixtures with oxygen for lung MRI
Yulin V Chang1, Mark S Conradi
1Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA. ychang@wustl.edu
Abstract:
We report measurements of free diffusivity D(0) and relaxation times T(1) and T(2) for pure C(2)F(6) and C(3)F(8) and their mixtures with oxygen. A simplified relaxation theory is presented and used to fit the data. The results enable spatially localized relaxation time measurements to determine the local gas concentration in lung MR images, so the free diffusivity D(0) is then known. Comparison of the measured diffusion to D(0) will express the extent of diffusion restriction and allow the local surface-to-volume ratio to be found.
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