# Using MRI To Visualize Regional Therapy Response In Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

> **NIH NIH R01** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $728,904

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The prevalence of Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has doubled in the past 10 years to ~3 million patients
worldwide. It has a prognosis worse than for many cancers, and, if untreated, has a median survival of 3–5 years.
While IPF has no cure, newly available medications can slow the rate lung function decline by ~50% relative to
placebo, albeit at a cost of $100,000 per year, and with unknown efficacy in individual patients. Today, IPF
clinical care and research are stymied by a lack of tools that can reliably assess its heterogeneous regional
functional impairment to detect disease and provide robust indicators of positive therapeutic response. To this
end, we have developed hyperpolarized (HP) 129Xe MRI and shown it to provide rapid, non-invasive, 3D
functional assessment of inhaled gas distribution in the airspaces, as well as its uptake in the interstitium (barrier
tissues) and transfer to the capillary red blood cells (RBCs). We have demonstrated its sensitivity to micron-
scale thickening of the interstitial barrier and that this provides a sensitive and early marker of therapeutic
response. This has led to demands for wider dissemination and harmonized acquisition and quantification
protocols that maximize repeatability. Our long-term goal is to broadly disseminate a comprehensive, yet rapid
(15 min), non-invasive, robust, and sensitive MRI exam for fibrotic lung disease. We bring advanced HP 129Xe
MR acquisition and analysis techniques and a track-record of thoracic MRI expertise from three pioneering
centers that have developed this application. The objective of this renewal is to optimize sensitivity to changing
disease, maximize repeatability, harmonize acquisition and analysis and establish its physiological and clinical
interpretation. Our central hypothesis is that this these methods will enable confident detection of treatable
disease and visualize therapeutic response within 3 months of initiation. The rationale for the proposed research
is driven by strong interest from both industry and academic partners, and impending FDA approval for 129Xe
ventilation MRI that will accelerate adoption. Thus, the proposed research is relevant to the NIH Mission of
improving health by developing and accelerating the application of biomedical technologies. Our approach is
based on three Specific Aims: 1) Establish optimal repeatability of 129Xe metrics across MRI platforms, 2)
Establish harmonized quantitative analysis, and 3) Deploy and validate a framework to identify active fibrosis
and therapy response. Completion of these aims will 1) make available standardized protocols across scanner
platforms, 2) establish standards that maximize repeatability, and 3) provide the tools and framework needed to
incorporate 129Xe MRI into multi-center trials for progressive fibrosis and ultimately, clinical care. The proposed
approach is innovative because it is built on a fundamentally new approach to probe the functioning of t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10211015
- **Project number:** 2R01HL126771-05
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Bastiaan Driehuys
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $728,904
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2015-05-06 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10211015

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10211015, Using MRI To Visualize Regional Therapy Response In Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (2R01HL126771-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10211015. Licensed CC0.

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