uri physics colloquium

Hyperpolarized xenon MRI of lungs

F. William Hersman. Ph.D
Physics Department, University of New Hampshire

abstract

Optical pumping of alkali metal vapors with circularly polarized infrared laser light allows the spin-magnetism of nuclei to become aligned in a magnetic field. We have improved several components and processes, lasers, cryogenics, and robotics, to produce large quantities of hyperpolarized xenon for medical imaging. Since xenon is inert it can be inhaled, and since it has nuclear magnetism it can be interrogated in an MRI scanner. This talk will outline innovations that enabled a new measurement of the rate of transfer of gas dissolving into the lung parenchyma, revealing functional aspects of the microscopic tissue composition.