Perfusion imaging of the human lung using flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery with an extra radiofrequency pulse (FAIRER)

Pulmonary perfusion is an important parameter in the evaluation of lung diseases such as pulmonary embolism. A noninvasive MR perfusion imaging technique of the lung is presented in which magnetically labeled blood water is used as an endogenous, freely diffusible tracer. The perfusion imaging technique is an arterial spin tagging method called Flow sensitive Alternating Inversion Recovery with an Extra Radiofrequency pulse (FAIRER). Seven healthy human volunteers were studied. High-resolution perfusion-weighted images with negligible artifacts were acquired within a single breathhold. Different patterns of signal enhancement were observed between the pulmonary vessels and parenchyma, which persists up to TI = 1400 ms. The T1s of blood and lung parenchyma were determined to be 1.46s and 1.35 s, respectively.