Regional lung imaging using hyperpolarized xenon gas MR

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Regional lung imaging and modelling to quantify anatomy, ventilation and perfusion using hyperpolarized xenon gas MR and thoracic CT imaging.

• IRAS ID

  56665

• Contact name

  F V Gleeson

• Sponsor organisation

  Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Eudract number

  2011-002027-17

• ISRCTN Number

  N/A

• Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

  N/A

• Research summary

  Chronic respiratory disease is an important condition for patients as it leads to disabling symptoms that impair quality of life. Overall, chronic lung disease is responsible for one in five of all UK deaths. The NHS costs for chronic respiratory disease are estimated at œ 6.6 billion per annum. Lung cancer is the second most common cancer in the UK with 39,000 new cases each year. Early diagnosis and assessment of tolerance for curative treatment will make a significant difference to survival rates. Currently, the gold standard for assessment of lung function is spirometry. Spirometry measures global lung function but provides no information about the different lung regions. Changes in lung function as measured by spirometry do not coherently correlate with symptom severity or reflect decline in patient health. To address these issues we aim to use hyperpolarized xenon gas (Xe-129) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to develop a new technique capable of objectively and quantitatively describing regional lung abnormality. MRI has the advantage of being free of ionizing radiation but has limited use in respiratory disease because the lung is largely composed of gas that does not generate an MR signal. Hyperpolarized xenon gas can resolve this problem as it generates an MR signal, allowing imaging of the lung airspaces following inhalation. We hope to recruit 40 participants from a cohort of patients with a prior history of testicular germ cell tumours. They will have entirely normal lungs. At the time of their routine follow-up thoracic computed tomography scan to monitor for tumour relapse, participants will be offered hyperpolarized Xe-129 MR. Two scans will be conducted on enrolment with a repeat scan one year later. We hope to define the normal hyperpolarized xenon imaging parameters, thereby generating an ??atlas? of normality.

• REC name

  South Central - Berkshire Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  11/SC/0487

• Date of REC Opinion

  25 Nov 2011

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion