Patent ID: 7994785

Claim:
A method for determining a spin relaxation parameter and a diffusion parameter of a hyperpolarized gas in a subject with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the steps comprising: a) administering a hyperpolarized gas contrast agent to the subject; b) acquiring MR signal data from the subject while performing a pulse sequence with the MRI system to acquire the MR signal data along a plurality of radial k-space sampling trajectories, wherein a radius of a first subset of the radial k-space sampling trajectories is longer than a radius of a second subset of the radial k-space sampling trajectories; c) reconstructing images from the acquired MR signal data; d) determining, using the reconstructed images, a spin relaxation parameter that is indicative of the relaxation of transverse magnetization of the hyperpolarized gas in the subject; and e) determining, using the reconstructed images, a diffusion parameter that is indicative of the diffusion of the hyperpolarized gas in the subject.