RF instrumentation for same‐breath triple nuclear lung MR imaging of 1H and hyperpolarized 3He and 129Xe at 1.5T

PURPOSE: The hyperpolarized gases (3)He and (129)Xe have distinct properties and provide unique and complementary functional information from the lungs. A triple-nuclear, same-breath imaging examination of the lungs with (1)H, (3)He, and (129)Xe can therefore provide exclusive functional information from the gas images. In addition, the (1)H images provide complementary co-registered structural information in the same physiological time frame. The goal of this study was to design an RF system for triple nuclear lung MRI at 1.5T, consisting of a dual-tuned transceiver coil for (3)He and (129)Xe, RF switches and a nested (1)H receiver array. METHODS: A dual-tuned transmit-receive dual-Helmholtz RF coil for (3)He and (129)Xe was designed and constructed to work in unison with a nested (1)H receiver array. RESULTS: Triple-nuclear imaging (structural and ventilation) and apparent diffusion coefficient mapping of the human lungs was performed in the same breath-hold using the integrated RF system. B1 maps and volumetric ventilation imaging using a three-dimensional, balanced steady-state free precession pulse sequence performed with both hyperpolarized (3)He and (129)Xe indicate good stand-alone performance of the coil for the respective nucleus. CONCLUSION: Triple-nuclear same-breath lung imaging with a dual-tuned coil ((3)He and (129)Xe) and a nested (1)H array has been demonstrated with a custom RF system.