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Regional and global relationships of lung function and structure were studied using hyperpolarized3He MRI in a rat elastase-induced model of emphysema ( n = 4) and healthy controls ( n = 5). Fractional ventilation ( r) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of3He were measured at a submillimeter planar resolution in ventral, middle, and dorsal slices 6 mo after model induction. Pulmonary function testing (PFT) was performed before MRI to yield forced expiratory volume in 50 ms (FEV50), airway resistance (RI), and dynamic compliance (Cdyn). Cutoff threshold values of ventilation and diffusion, r* and ADC*, were computed corresponding to 80% population of pixels falling above or below each threshold value, respectively. For correlation analysis, r* was compared with FEV50/functional residual capacity (FRC), RIand Cdyn, whereas ADC* was compared with FEV50/FRC, total lung capacity (TLC), and Cdyn. Regional correlation of r and ADC was evaluated by dividing each of the three lung slices into four quadrants. Cdynwas significantly larger in elastase rats (0.92 ± 0.16 vs. 0.61 ± 0.12 ml/cmH2O). The difference of RIand FEV50was insignificant between the two groups. The r* of healthy rats was significantly larger than the elastase group (0.42 ± 0.03 vs. 0.28 ± 0.06), whereas ADC* was significantly smaller in healthy animals (0.27 ± 0.04 vs. 0.36 ± 0.01 cm2/s). No systematic difference in these quantities was observed between the three lung slices. A significant 33% increase in ADC* and a significant 31% decline in r* for elastase rats was observed compared with a significant 51% increase in Cdynand a nonsignificant 26% decline in FEV50/FRC. Correlation of imaging and PFT metrics revealed that r and ADC divide the rats into two separate clusters in the sample space.

Rationale and Objectives The use of hyperpolarized 3 He magnetic resonance imaging as a quantitative lung imaging tool has progressed rapidly in the past decade, mostly in the assessment of the airway diseases chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. This technique has shown potential to assess both structural and functional information in healthy and diseased lungs. In this study, the regional measurements of structure and function were applied to a bleomycin rat model of interstitial lung disease. Materials and Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats (weight, 300–350 g) were administered intratracheal bleomycin. After 3 weeks, apparent diffusion coefficient and fractional ventilation were measured by 3 He magnetic resonance imaging and pulmonary function testing using a rodent-specific plethysmography chamber. Sensitized and healthy animals were then compared using threshold analysis to assess the potential sensitivity of these techniques to pulmonary abnormalities. Results No significant changes were observed in total lung volume and compliance between the two groups. Airway resistance elevated and forced expiratory volume significantly declined in the 3-week bleomycin rats, and fractional ventilation was significantly decreased compared to control animals ( P 3 He showed a smaller change but still a significant decrease in 3-week bleomycin animals ( P Conclusions Preliminary results suggest that quantitative 3 He magnetic resonance imaging can be a sensitive and noninvasive tool to assess changes in an animal interstitial lung disease model. This technique may be useful for longitudinal animal studies and also in the investigation of human interstitial lung diseases.

Changes in lung function and structure were studied using hyperpolarized3He MRI in an elastase-induced murine model of emphysema. The combined analysis of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional ventilation ( R) were used to distinguish emphysematous changes and also to develop a model for classifying sections of the lung into diseased and normal. Twelve healthy male BALB/c mice (26 ± 2 g) were randomized into healthy and elastase-induced mice and studied ∼8–11 wk after model induction. ADC and R were measured at a submillimeter planar resolution. Chord length ( Lx) data were analyzed from histology samples from the corresponding imaged slices. Logistic regression was applied to estimate the probability that an imaged pixel came from a diseased animal, and bootstrap methods (1,000 samples) were used to compare the regression results for the morphological and imaging results. Multivariate ANOVA (MANOVA) was used to analyze transformed ADC (ADCBC), and R ( RBC) data and also to control for the experiment-wide error rate. MANOVA and ANOVA showed that elastase induced a statistically measureable change in the average transformed Lxand ADCBCbut not in the average RBC. Marginal mean analysis demonstrated that ADCBCwas on average 0.19 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.16, 0.22] higher in the emphysema group, whereas RBCwas on average 0.05 (95% CI: 0.04, 0.06) lower. Logistic regression supported the hypothesis that ADCBCand RBC, together, were better at differentiating normal from diseased tissue than either measurement alone. The odds ratios for ADCBCand RBCwere 7.73 (95% CI: 5.23, 11.42) and 9.14 × 10−5(95% CI: 3.33 × 10−5, 25.06 × 10−5), respectively. Using a 50% probability cutoff, this model classified 70.6% of pixels correctly. The sensitivity and specificity of this model at the 50% cutoff were 74.9% and 65.2%, respectively. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.76 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.78). The regression model presented can be used to map MRI data to disease probability maps. These probability maps present a future possibility of using both measurements in a more clinically feasible method of diagnosing this disease.