The goal of this application is to provide the investigators from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) and institutions in the Texas Medical Center with a 129Xe gas hyperpolarizer system that will enable high-resolution imaging of lung function by magnetic resonance and advance multidisciplinary research in humans and small animal models of human disease. The Polarean 9820 129Xe hyperpolarizer system is capable of producing hyperpolarized (HP) 129Xe gas that can be used for imaging lung ventilation, gas exchange, and acinar morphometry to probe dysfunction in the lungs of humans and small animals such as mice and rats. MDACC is the home of a large group of NIH-funded investigators, who are conducting fundamental studies and translational research, with unified focus on improving outcome and quality of life for patients with cancer. Together, these investigators cover large and complementary research territories and focus their efforts on basic science and the translation of laboratory discoveries to clinical practice. MD Anderson is part of the Texas Medical Center, which is the largest medical center in the world, with 59 member institutions that are home to a wide array of world-class researchers. Many of these institutions have active pulmonary research groups. Currently, there are no institutions in the Texas Medical Center or the state of Texas that can produce HP 129Xe gas for high-resolution imaging of lung function to study pulmonary disease and injury.
The specific aim of this application is to acquire the Polarean 9820 129Xe hyperpolarizer system to enable investigators to conduct basic science and applied research projects related to disease of the lung, with a special focus on lung cancer and injury of normal lung during cancer therapy. The principal investigator and key personnel in this application are committed to ensuring that the new HP 129Xe gas MRI technology presented herein becomes a productive addition to the suite of highly utilized research tools at MD Anderson and the Texas Medical Center. In this application, we offer numerous NIH-funded major users who are conducting research that would immediately and significantly benefit from the procurement of a Polarean 9820 129Xe hyperpolarizer system. In addition, the hyperpolarizer system will be incorporated into the suite of resources offered by our Small Animal Imaging Facility (SAIF), an institutional research facility partially supported by our Cancer Center Support Grant (P30-CA016672, PI: Pisters). New investigators ? both from within MDACC and from the greater Texas Medical Center research community ? will also benefit in the future from this powerful functional imaging equipment.
High-precision functional imaging of the lungs allows scientists and physicians to better understand the pathophysiological processes of pulmonary injury and disease. The Polarean 9820 129Xe hyperpolarizer system enables researchers the ability to conduct HP 129Xe gas MRI of the lungs of both humans and small animals, which provides unparalleled capabilities for probing pulmonary dysfunction. Specifically, at MD Anderson Cancer Center, this system will provide scientists with a means to investigate the pathophysiology of lung pathologies in vivo, which will provide a deeper understanding of the cause and progression of lung injury and disease, as well as provide a superior means to diagnose and stage pulmonary disease and quantify response to therapy.
