A means of imaging lungs that gives regional information about ventilation, has superior resolution to nuclear medicine images, does not pose a risk from ionizing radiation,and is affordable, will greatly benefit pulmonary diagnosis and evaluation. To pioneer such a capability, we will image inert, nontoxic, insoluble, fluorine-containing gases in rat lungs with nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). We will begin by improving the quality of our images. Preliminary data indicate that we will be able to detect 10% differences in fluorinated gas concentration in 1/6000 of a lobe of a lung with the three minute imaging procedure. We will then exploit the tendency of inert, insoluble, sense, fluorinated gases to concentrate in regions of lungs with partially obstructed ventilation. We will partially obstruct the left bronchus of rats and then experiment with different gases and minutes to find those that are good for distinguishing the left lung by its high image intensity. We will also image the lungs of rats that have emphysema, primarily in the left lung. Compared to NMR imaging of hyperpolarized noble gases, our images will provide better ventilation information and will be less expensive.
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