Investigating the Effect of Gravity and Oxygen Signal Enhancement on Lung T2* with Upright 0.5T MR

Motivation: Oxygen-enhanced (OE) lung MRI can reveal physiological and pathological information. Lung function varies with posture and supine OE-MRI cannot inform lung status while upright. Supine is a difficult imaging position for some lung disease patients. Goal(s): To explore changes in lung OE-MRI parameters due to variation in posture. Approach: We collected breath-hold and dynamic data on a 0.5T Paramed ASG OpenMR upright scanner before, during and after 100% oxygen administration to quantify changes in T2*, signal intensity and ventilation. Results: Lungs behave differently between seated and supine positions, with a distinct cranial-caudal gradient in T2* and ventilation when upright. Impact: Oxygen-enhanced lung MRI using a 0.5T upright scanner facilitates comparison of parametric maps and ventilation at seated vs supine postures. This can provide crucial knowledge for clinicians and researchers in understanding and characterising lung physiology and function.