Free-breathing 3D cine lung imaging on low field MRI

Motivation: Current gold standard for lung imaging is computed tomography (CT). This method only provides morphologic data and utilizes ionized radiation. MR imaging has not reached clinical applications at traditional field strengths. At low-field strengths MRI may be uniquely beneficial to the imaging of the lung parenchyma and function Goal(s): The creation of a 3D cine protocol to study the functional dynamics of the lung on a low-field 0.55T MR. Approach: We developed a free-breathing pipeline to create 3D cine images from 2D slices. Results: We were able to reconstruct 12 volumes along a respiratory cycle with a total acquisition time of ~15 minutes. Impact: Low-field 0.55T MRI enables functional lung evaluation without ionizing radiation, providing a safer alternative to traditional CT scans. This approach might improve the assessment of lung pathologies, offering enhanced diagnostic and monitoring capabilities, particularly for functional lung imaging.