Hyperpolarized Noble Gas Imaging at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Hyperpolarized noble gas magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was established by the pioneering work of Albert et. al. in the mid 1990’s, shortly after the development of high-powered diode lasers and high-density polarized helium-3 gas targets for electron scattering experiments at various DOE laboratories.  Over the past three decades, research groups in North America and Europe have developed novel biomarkers for an array of respiratory diseases.  However, despite substantial progress, there is still only at most a handful of large clinical trials using hyperpolarized MRI, and presently no hospitals employ the technique for clinical diagnosis.  We report on lung imaging research being performed at the NewYork Presbyterian/Columbia University Irvine Medical Center (NYP-CUIMC).  This research originated with a ~60 subject hyperpolarized helium-3 study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and is presently gearing up for a 100-subject study of long Covid using hyperpolarized xenon-129 MRI.  Measurements for the Covid-19 study will include regional ventilation, alterations in acinar microstructure and xenon gas transport from alveoli to blood.