Distribution of hyperpolarized xenon in the brain following sensory stimulation: preliminary MRI findings.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21789173.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0021607 and PMC identifier PMC2749000.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
In hyperpolarized xenon magnetic resonance imaging (HP (129)Xe MRI), the inhaled spin-1/2 isotope of xenon gas is used to generate the MR signal. Because hyperpolarized xenon is an MR signal source with properties very different from those generated from water-protons, HP (129)Xe MRI may yield structural and functional information not detectable by conventional proton-based MRI methods. Here we demonstrate the differential distribution of HP (129)Xe in the cerebral cortex of the rat following a pain stimulus evoked in the animal's forepaw. Areas of higher HP (129)Xe signal corresponded to those areas previously demonstrated by conventional functional MRI (fMRI) methods as being activated by a forepaw pain stimulus. The percent increase in HP (129)Xe signal over baseline was 13-28%, and was detectable with a single set of pre and post stimulus images. Recent innovations in the production of highly polarized (129)Xe should make feasible the emergence of HP (129)Xe MRI as a viable adjunct method to conventional MRI for the study of brain function and disease.