Development of MRI scan methods to image inhaled fluorocarbon gases as biomarkers of lung structure and function.

开发 MRI 扫描方法，对吸入的碳氟化合物气体进行成像，作为肺结构和功能的生物标志物。

• 批准号: 2440414
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2020 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2440414
• 关键词: Development; MRI; scan; methods; image

The aim of this project is to develop new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods to measure lung functional and structural properties. We will image the distribution within the lung of perfluoropropane - an inert, inhalable gas that can be visualised with 19F-MRI: an MRI scan that detects the fluorine nuclei within inhaled perfluoropropane gas. We will implement and test new MRI scanner hardware and scan acquisition methods to improve the image quality of lung scans made with this method, and use accelerate scan methods to improve scan tolerability for patients with respiratory disorders. Whilst there are methods to assess lung structural and functional properties in current clinical practice, these either lack spatial information (and so don't detect subtle localised changes associated with early respiratory disease) or use ionising radiation that carries a risk to the patient. MRI offers a safely repeatable and radiation-free imaging method and our approach to lung imaging permits quantitative measurement of lung ventilation properties than is sensitive to respiratory disease.The novel healthcare technologies developed in this project will underpin the downstream use of lung 19F-MRI clinical research and clinical practice.Project objectivesThe key objectives of this study are to measure the impact of MRI acceleration methods on 19F-MRI measures of lung ventilation properties, and to employ accelerated 19F-MRI methods in the development of lung functional and structural measurements than can ultimately be applied in clinical research and clinical practice. We hypothesise that a combination of advanced acceleration techniques can deliver a marked improvement in scan resolution and reduced scan duration, which in turn can improve ability to quantify ventilation defects in patients with respiratory disease and deliver better and more patient-friendly scan methods (such as free-breathing rather than breath-held scanning).MRI scan acceleration methods are well established for conventional clinical MRI scanning. Acceleration methods such as parallel imaging and compressed sensing are available as products from all major MRI scanner manufacturers, however their use in multinuclear MRI (such as 19F-MRI of inhaled perfluoropropane) is not widespread or easily implemented on a standard clinical scanner. We recognise that existing lung 19F-MRI methods have not yet fully exploited the capabilities provided by scan acceleration methods, and we see scope for significant improvement of image quality for lung 19F-MRI beyond the current state of the art. Our studies will use lung-mimicking test objects and studies of healthy volunteers to test new MRI scanner sensor (RF coil) hardware and scanner software (MRI pulse sequences). We will combine parallel imaging and compresses sensing to produce more detailed (higher resolution) 3D images of lung ventilation properties and advance from static lung images to dynamic (movie) 3D images that show the wash-in and wash-out of our tracer gases throughout the lungs. The new imaging technologies developed in this project will then be positioned for immediate use in clinical research studies that assess the progression of respiratory diseases, and that assess the effects of therapeutic strategies (e.g. novel drug treatments) on lung function, and the imaging methods have potential for development towards the ultimate goal of use in clinical practice for respiratory disease diagnosis and monitoring.

该项目的目的是开发新的磁共振成像（MRI）方法来测量肺的功能和结构特性。我们将对全氟丙烷在肺内的分布进行成像-一种可以用19 F-MRI可视化的惰性可吸入气体：一种检测吸入全氟丙烷气体中氟核的MRI扫描。我们将实施和测试新的MRI扫描仪硬件和扫描采集方法，以提高使用该方法进行的肺部扫描的图像质量，并使用加速扫描方法提高呼吸系统疾病患者的扫描耐受性。虽然在目前的临床实践中有评估肺结构和功能特性的方法，但这些方法要么缺乏空间信息（因此无法检测与早期呼吸系统疾病相关的细微局部变化），要么使用对患者有风险的电离辐射。MRI提供了一种安全可重复和无辐射的成像方法，我们的肺部成像方法允许定量测量肺通气特性，而不是对呼吸系统疾病敏感。该项目开发的新型医疗保健技术将支持肺19 F-MRI临床研究和临床实践。项目目的本研究的主要目的是测量MRI加速方法对19 F-MRI测量肺通气特性，并采用加速19 F-MRI方法开发肺功能和结构测量，最终可应用于临床研究和临床实践。我们假设，先进的加速技术的组合可以提供扫描分辨率的显着改善和减少扫描持续时间，这反过来又可以提高量化呼吸系统疾病患者的通气缺陷的能力，并提供更好和更友好的扫描方法（如自由呼吸，而不是屏气扫描）。MRI扫描加速方法已为传统的临床MRI扫描建立。加速方法，如并行成像和压缩传感，可作为所有主要MRI扫描仪制造商的产品，但它们在多核MRI（如吸入全氟丙烷的19 F-MRI）中的使用并不广泛或容易在标准临床扫描仪上实现。我们认识到，现有的肺部19 F-MRI方法还没有充分利用扫描加速方法提供的功能，我们看到的空间显着改善图像质量的肺部19 F-MRI超越了目前的最先进的。我们的研究将使用肺部模仿测试对象和健康志愿者的研究，以测试新的MRI扫描仪传感器（RF线圈）硬件和扫描仪软件（MRI脉冲序列）。我们将结合联合收割机并行成像和压缩传感，以产生肺通气特性的更详细（更高分辨率）的3D图像，并从静态肺图像推进到动态（电影）3D图像，显示整个肺中示踪气体的洗入和洗出。该项目开发的新成像技术将立即用于临床研究，评估呼吸系统疾病的进展，并评估治疗策略（如新型药物治疗）对肺功能的影响，成像方法有潜力发展到最终目标，用于呼吸系统疾病诊断和监测的临床实践。