Prof.Mitchell Albert visit WIPM

      On November 24th, 2014, prof.Mitchell Albert from lakehead university, invited by prof. Xin Zhou, paid a visit to WIPM and gave a report to  all member of Ultrasensitive Magnetic Resonance Research Group, entitled "Hyperpolarized Noble Gas MRI Technology Development for the Lungs and Brain".

      Chronic respiratory disease and lung cancer are of high morbidity and mortality. Conventional proton MRI can't get high quality images of the lung Airspace because of the low proton density of the lung parenchyma. By using hyperpolarized gas as a contrast agent, MRI can not only visualize lung airspace directly, but also detect the function of lung. Prof.Mitchell Albert is a specialist in this field, who demonstrated the first hyperpolarized ₁₂₉Xe MR image of animal's lung in 1994.

      In the report, Professor Albert gave us a detailed introduction on the research program and significant developments of his group. They used the hyperpolarized gas MRI of lung to diagnose diseases such as COPD and cystic fibrosis, as well as evaluate the treatment effect of some drugs. Recently, they paid attention to a new pulmonary MRI modality called Fluorine-19 MRI, which has no need of enrichment and no background noise. They also focus on brain imaging, using hyperpolarized Xenon biosensor molecular MRI to detect degenerative brain diseases.

      After the report, Prof. Mitchell Albert visited the laboratory of Ultrasensitive Magnetic Resonance Research Group, and expressed great appreciation for the development of Ultrasensitive Magnetic Resonance Research Group. Different from how it was when prof. Mitchell Albert's last visit to WIPM in 2011, Ultrasensitive Magnetic Resonance Research Group has made a big advance both in people and facility.