Joint relaxometry-diffusion imaging and spectra of the fetal lungs.

We scanned the fetal lungs of healthy controls and fetuses that subsequently delivered preterm, to characterise typical and atypical lung development in-utero, with a combined T2*-diffusion protocol. We analysed our data with a joint T2*-ADC model, yielding voxelwise maps of T2* and ADC, plus calculated whole-lung T2*-ADC spectra. A reduction in both T2* and ADC values was demonstrated in the preterm cohort, potentially reflecting alterations in pulmonary development commencing in-utero. Our study demonstrates that voxelwise T2* and ADC maps, and whole-lung T2*-ADC spectra have the potential to provide additional information on fetal lung microstructure and improve detection of atypical development.