Simultaneous 3D structural-functional assessment of pediatric lung using 0.55-T MRI: A feasibility study

作者：Xin Miao, Nam G. Lee, HaiThuy N. Nguyen, Jesus Uribe, Eamon Doyle, Stanford Chun, Ziwei Zhao, Sophia Cui, Kamal Singhrao, Gerardo Perez Rojas, Narayan P. Iyer, R. Kato, Krishna S. Nayak · 发表于：Radiology Advances · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1093/radadv/umag035 · 研究领域：Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research、Ultrasound in Clinical Applications、Effects of Radiation Exposure

Abstract Background Pediatric pulmonary diseases are commonly evaluated with imaging that either involves ionizing radiation or lacks regional functional information. Purpose To evaluate the feasibility of simultaneous structural and functional lung assessment in pediatric participants without radiation, contrast administration, or breath-holding. Materials and Methods This retrospective study analyzed pediatric patients with pulmonary disease and healthy participants, who were recruited from August 2023 to December 2025 via convenience sampling and underwent awake lung MRI on wide-bore 0.55-T scanners. A prototype balanced steady-state free-precession sequence with a half-radial dual-echo readout (bSTAR) was acquired with free breathing. Respiratory-resolved 3D images were reconstructed for structural evaluation and quantitative ventilation mapping. Two pediatric radiologists independently scored image quality (robustness to motion and streak artifacts, and parenchymal signal) and the anatomic visibility of the airways and vessels using 4-point Likert scales. Inter-reader agreement of structural findings was evaluated using Cohen’s κ. Ventilation defect percentage measured by bSTAR was compared with 2D phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI using Pearson correlation and Bland–Altman analysis. Results Fourteen participants (median [range] age, 11 [6—16] years; eight female) were scanned. Image quality scores ranged from 3.0 to 3.8 on Likert scales. All cases were diagnos...