OXYGEN-TENSION MAPPING WITH F-19 ECHO-PLANAR MR-IMAGING OF SEQUESTERED PERFLUOROCARBON

The authors used fluorine-19 inversion-recovery (IR) echo-planar imagi ng (EPI) to map oxygen tension on the basis of the spin-lattice relaxa tion rate (R1) of sequestered perfluorocarbon. R1 measured with IR-EPI varied as a linear function of oxygen tension and temperature, and th e relationship agreed well with earlier spectroscopic findings. Oxygen tension maps of a mouse that had received a dose of perflubron emulsi on were acquired before, during, and after the mouse breathed pure oxy gen. Results showed low liver oxygen tension during air breathing, whi ch increased during breathing of pure oxygen, with distinct regional h eterogeneity, to 8-17 %atm (60-130 torr [8.0-17.3 kPa]).