Investigating short-time diffusion of hyperpolarized 129 Xe in lung air spaces and tissue: A feasibility study in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients.

PURPOSE: To investigate the diffusion of hyperpolarized 129 Xe in air spaces at short-time scales for determination of lung surface-to-gas-volume ratio in comparison to results from chemical shift saturation recovery, CT, and established clinical measures. METHODS: A pulse sequence for measurement of time-dependent diffusion of 129 Xe in air spaces at short diffusion times was developed. Gas uptake into lung tissue was measured in the same breathhold using chemical shift saturation recovery spectroscopy in the short-time regime. The potential to obtain the surface-to-gas-volume ratio using a first-order and second-order approximation of the short-time expansion of time-dependent diffusion according to Mitra et al11 and its diagnostic relevance were tested in a study with 9 chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases patients. RESULTS: Surface-to-gas-volume ratios obtained from time-dependent diffusion were correlated with results from chemical shift saturation recovery, r = 0.840, P = .005 (first-order fits), and r = 0.923, P < .001 (second-order fits), and from CT results for second-order fits, r = 0.729, P = .026. Group means ± SD were 75.0 ± 15.5 cm-1 (first-order fits) and 122.3 ± 32.8 cm-1 (second-order fits) for time-dependent diffusion, 125.9 ± 43.3 cm-1 for chemical shift saturation recovery, and 159.5 ± 50.9 cm-1 for CT. Surface-to-gas-volume ratios from time-dependent diffusion with first-order fits correlated significantly with carbon monoxide diffusing capacity as percent of prediction, r = 0.724, P = .028. CONCLUSION: Time-dependent diffusion measurements of 129 Xe at short-time scales down to ~1 ms are feasible in chronic obstructive pulmonary patients and provide clinically relevant information on lung microstructure.