Intravenous delivery of hyperpolarized Xe-129: a compartmental model

There is an increasing interest in the use of hyperpolarized 129-xenon (HpX e) NMR for the measurement of tissue perfusion. In this paper we present a theoretical study designed to assess the merit of intravenous HpXe delivery compared with the existing respiration techniques. A compartmental model w as created to describe the behavior of the injected bolus in the circulator y system and in the lungs. The dependence of the tissue concentration on th e T-1 and solubility of the Xe in the various compartments, and on injectio n rate, were evaluated. By this process the critical loss mechanisms are id entified. It is shown that the predicted tissue concentrations of HpXe in g ray and white matter are comparable using respiration or injection techniqu es. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.