Award
National Institutes of Health 11373854
Monitoring of Ultrasound-Mediated Gas Delivery by Hyperpolarized Xenon Gas MRI
Recipient
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Award Amount
$229,820.00
Ceiling
$229,820.00
Awarded
June 10, 2026
Identifier
11373854
Development of an MR imaging tool using hyperpolarized xenon-129 microbubbles to monitor and quantify gas release and diffusion following focused ultrasound-mediated microbubble disruption, enabling real-time assessment of tissue permeability.
Description
This project addresses the critical lack of imaging tools capable of measuring gas diffusion from the vasculature into tissue in real time. It proposes a magnetic resonance-based approach that enables tracking of the distribution and compartmentalization of gas delivered to tissues during focused ultrasound treatments. The visualization of gas movement will allow optimization of ultrasound-mediated tissue-targeted gas delivery, support dose–response studies, provide insights into tissue oxygenation and microvascular abnormalities, and expand hyperpolarized xenon MRI use beyond the lungs.