Hyperpolarized xenon-129 dissolved MRI based on two-point Dixon method

In this work, a 2-point Dixon-based method is developed to provide separation of the hyperpolarized xenon-129 dissolved-phase magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) components for pulmonary applications. Based on analysis of data from 6 healthy volunteers and 20 patients with lung disease, the separated tissue and red blood cell (RBC) components obtained from this method are highly consistent with those from the previously-described 3-point Dixon method. The 2-point Dixon based method has the potential to greatly improve the signal-to-noise ratio for dissolved-phase MRI while still maintaining accurate tissue/RBC separation.