Hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance pulmonary imaging: Image processing tools for clinical research

Hyperpolarized ³He magnetic resonance imaging has emerged as an in vivo imaging pulmonary research tool. It is unique among imaging methods in that it provides simultaneous lung structural and functional information at high resolution without the use of ionizing radiation, and thus is ideally suited for intensive serial longitudinal studies and for examining treatment effects. Despite the great promise of the method, currently, non-quantitative image analysis tools continue to be utilized for the analysis of functional images obtained from ³He MRI. In order for the translation of ³He MRI to clinical research, quantitative and precise image analysis tools are required. Thus, image processing tools for rigid and non-rigid registration, signal normalization and image subtraction are under development and being validated for the sensitive and specific measurement of airway and airspace changes in ³He MR image datasets.