RECYCLE OF 3HE FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION LUNG IMAGING

3HE 的回收用于高分辨率肺部成像

• 批准号: 6017340
• 负责人: MICHAEL G IZENSON
• 金额: $ 9.96万
• 依托单位: CREARE, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-09-30 至 2000-03-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/6017340
• 关键词: bioimaging /biomedical imaging; cryoscience; helium; lung imaging /visualization /scanning; magnetic resonance imaging; physical separation; respiratory gas; technology /technique development

Noble gas isotopes that can be nuclear spin-polarized are very attractive imaging agents ,because of their high detection sensitivity for nuclear magnetic resonance. In particular, spin-polarized 3He enables fast, gas- space imaging of the lungs and airways for clinical diagnosis and physiological studies. Unfortunately, the limited availability of 3He severely limits the number of high-resolution lung imaging studies that can be performed. We propose to develop a system to recover and recycle the rare helium isotope so that high-resolution lung imaging can become common and inexpensive. The innovation is a cryogenic gas separation system that extracts and purifies the 3He from a patient's exhalation stream and saves it for re-polarization3 and reuse in other patients. In Phase I we will prove the feasibility of the He recovery system by (l) performing a proof-of-concept test that demonstrates the feasibility of efficiently separating, purifying, and sterilizing the 3He from exhalation gases, and (2) producing a conceptual design of a complete system to recover and recycle 3He. In Phase II we will build and demonstrate a complete recovery and recycling system. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: Rare, noble gas isotopes are a potential breakthrough for medical imaging if they could be used economically. Uses for these isotopes include high- resolution, gas-space imaging of the lungs and airways, practical low-field MRI, studies of blood perfusion and brain physiology using soluble isotopes, and porous media studies based on diffusion of gaseous isotopes. Technology developed in this program will make these advances practical and economical by enabling these rare isotopes to be reused many times.

具有核自旋极化特性的稀有气体同位素具有很高的核磁共振探测灵敏度，是一种极具吸引力的显像剂。特别是，自旋极化的3He能够对肺部和呼吸道进行快速的气体空间成像，用于临床诊断和生理研究。不幸的是，3He的有限可用性严重限制了可以进行的高分辨率肺部成像研究的数量。我们建议开发一种回收和再循环稀有氦同位素的系统，以便高分辨率肺部成像可以变得普遍和廉价。这一创新是一种低温气体分离系统，它可以从患者呼出的气流中提取和净化3He，并将其保存下来，以便重新极化并在其他患者身上重复使用。在第一阶段，我们将通过(L)进行概念验证测试来证明氦回收系统的可行性，该测试证明了从呼出气体中高效分离、提纯和杀菌3He的可行性，以及(2)产生一个完整的回收和回收3He系统的概念设计。在第二阶段，我们将建立和示范一个完整的回收和再循环系统。拟议的商业应用：稀有的稀有气体同位素如果能够经济地使用，将是医学成像的潜在突破。这些同位素的用途包括高分辨率、肺部和呼吸道的气体空间成像、实用的低场磁共振成像、使用可溶同位素研究血液灌流和脑生理学，以及基于气体同位素扩散的多孔介质研究。该计划开发的技术将使这些稀有同位素能够多次重复使用，从而使这些进步变得实用和经济。