1Biomedical
Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United States; 2Radiology
and Medical Imaging, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, United
States; 3Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University,
Cleveland, OH, United States; 4Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical
Care, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, United
States; 5Xemed LLC, Durham, NH, United States; 6Physics,
University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States
We have demonstrated an imaging method that permits regional mapping of the tissue and RBC fractions of Xe129 dissolved in the human lung, as well as quantitative comparison of tissue- and RBC-based ratios among subjects. The 11-sec breath-hold acquisition was well tolerated by both healthy volunteers and subjects with obstructive lung disease. Our preliminary results, although obtained from a small number of subjects in this exploratory study, suggest marked differences in the spatial distributions of Xe129 dissolved in tissue and RBCs among healthy subjects, smokers (including those with COPD), and asthmatics.