Free-Breathing Functional Lung Imaging at 0.6T compared to 1.5T

Motivation: Non-contrast-enhanced pulmonary functional imaging is a promising technique. However, it is limited by rapid signal decay from susceptibility differences within the lung parenchyma. Goal(s): To assess the image quality of pulmonary functional maps acquired at 0.6T and 1.5T using the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) MRI technique. Approach: We acquired free-breathing images using balanced steady-state free precession sequences at both field strengths. The images were non-rigidly registered using Elastix, and functional maps were derived using DMD. Results: Preliminary findings demonstrate that mid-field MRI can successfully acquire pulmonary functional information, with quantitative results indicating improved functional map quality at 0.6T. Impact: We investigate the usefulness of 0.6T MRI for free-breathing functional lung imaging. Our findings demonstrate improved image quality compared to 1.5T, with improved tissue-background contrast and homogeneity of functional maps, underscoring the system's robustness and potential for non-invasive pulmonary imaging.