Respiratory-resolved lung oxygen and compliance mapping at 0.55T in patients with lymphangioleiomyomatosis

Motivation: Oxygen-enhanced (OE) pulmonary MRI and specific ventilation (SV) computation are two methods to assess regional lung function, however, they have yet to be acquired simultaneously and compared. Goal(s): To develop a free-breathing technique that provides a respiratory-resolved OE and SV image simultaneously, to study oxygen perfusion and alveolar compliance abnormalities. Approach: We implement (3mm)3 isotropic respiratory-resolved 4D imaging to calculate OE and SV maps at 6 phases throughout the respiratory cycle. We compare OE and SV heterogeneity between 7 healthy volunteers and 7 LAM patients. Results: Respiratory-resolved OE and SV mapping show strong sensitivity to LAM-induced cysts. Both measurements were moderately correlated. Impact: Respiratory-resolved oxygen-enhanced MRI offers a temporal view of pulmonary oxygen perfusion, complemented by additional insight into regional alveolar compliance from specific ventilation (SV) images calculated from the same data. This four-dimensional, patient-friendly approach enables comprehensive assessment of lung function abnormalities.