Bronchial imaging in humans using xenon K-edge dichromography

This report describes the initial use of K-edge xenon dichromography for imaging the bronchial tree in humans. The subjects inhale an anatomic dead-space volume of a mixture of 80% xenon and 20% oxygen, following which a dichromographic line-scan image is recorded using two monochromatic synchrotron radiation beams closely bracketing the k-edge of xenon (34.56 keV). Images of airways, from main-stem bronchi to fourth-order branches, are recorded with a pixel resolution of 0.5×0.5 mm. The scanning rate is 12 cm/s, the line exposure time is 4 ms, the skin dose to the exposed area (125 mm × 150 mm) is <0.35 rad.