Multiple breath washout of hyperpolarized (129)Xe and (3)He in human lungs with three‐dimensional balanced steady‐state free‐precession imaging

PURPOSE: To compare quantitative fractional ventilation measurements from multiple breath washout imaging (MBW‐I) using hyperpolarized (3)He with both spoiled gradient echo (SPGR) and balanced steady‐state free precession (bSSFP) three‐dimensional (3D) pulse sequences and to evaluate the feasibility of MBW‐I with hyperpolarized (129)Xe. METHODS: Seven healthy subjects were scanned using (3)He MBW‐I with 3D SPGR and bSSFP sequences. Five also underwent MBW‐I with (129)Xe. A dual‐tuned coil was used to acquire MBW‐I data from both nuclei in the same subject position, enabling direct comparison of regional information. RESULTS: High‐quality MBW images were obtained with bSSFP sequences using a reduced dose (100 mL) of inhaled hyperpolarized (3)He. 3D MBW‐I with (129)Xe was also successfully demonstrated with a bSSFP sequence. Regional quantitative ventilation measures derived from (3)He and (129)Xe MBW‐I correlated well in all subjects (P < 0.001) with mean Pearson's correlation coefficients of r = 0.61 and r = 0.52 for (3)He SPGR‐bSSFP and (129)Xe‐(3)He (bSSFP) comparisons. The average intersubject mean difference (and standard deviation) in fractional ventilation in SPGR‐bSSFP and (129)Xe‐(3)He comparisons was 15% (28%) and 9% (38%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Improved sensitivity in MBW‐I can be achieved with polarization‐efficient bSSFP sequences. Same scan‐session 3D MBW‐I with (3)He and (129)Xe has been demonstrated using a dual‐tuned coil. Magn Reson Med 77:2288–2295, 2017. © 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.