RF instrumentation for same‐breath triple nuclear lung MR imaging of 1H and hyperpolarized 3He and 129Xe at 1.5T

The hyperpolarized gases 3He and 129Xe have distinct properties and provide unique and complementary functional information from the lungs. A triple‐nuclear, same‐breath imaging examination of the lungs with 1H, 3He, and 129Xe can therefore provide exclusive functional information from the gas images. In addition, the 1H images provide complementary co‐registered structural information in the same physiological time frame. The goal of this study was to design an RF system for triple nuclear lung MRI at 1.5T, consisting of a dual‐tuned transceiver coil for 3He and 129Xe, RF switches and a nested 1H receiver array.

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