Study on Cine View of Relative Enhancement Ratio Map in O₂-enhanced MRI

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enables the evaluation of organ structure and function. Oxygen-enhanced MRI (O₂-enhanced MRI) is a method for evaluating the pulmonary ventilation function using oxygen as a contrast agent. We created the Cine View of Relative Enhancement Ratio Map (Cine RER map) in O₂-enhanced MRI to easily observe the contrast effect for clinical use. Relative enhancement ratio (RER) was determined as the pixel values of the Cine RER map. Moreover, six healthy volunteers underwent O₂-enhanced MRI to determine the appropriate scale width of the Cine RER map. We calculated each RER and set 0 to 1.27 as the scale width of the Cine RER map based on the results. The Cine RER map made it possible to observe the contrast effect over time and thus is a convenient tool for evaluating the pulmonary ventilation function in O₂-enhanced MRI.