Abstract

Motivation: Regional assessment of functional decline due to radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) remains challengingGoal(s): We aimed to assess the accuracy of the recently introduced kinetic model of xenon exchange (kMXE) by comparison with the established MOXE model using hyperpolarised 129Xe MRIApproach: Employing a RILI rat model, we implemented gas exchange mapping of hyperpolarised 129Xe MRI chemical shift imaging data using 1D compartmental diffusion models. Results: The kMXE results matched the MOXE model well. Both models demonstrated asymmetric outcomes in the RILI cohort, diverging from the homogeneous results in the healthy group. Impact: Using hyperpolarised 129Xe MRI, we evaluated the effectiveness of kMXE and MOXE models and demonstrate their ability to uncover regional functional variations, providing potential biomarkers for assessing the longitudinal progression of radiation-induced lung injury.