Helping avoid unnecessary treatment
Children and young people being cared for at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust are the first in the UK to access this breakthrough technology as part of cutting-edge research being undertaken at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital.
Using the technology marked a turning point for Zoe, now five. She’d been in hospital every few months for IV antibiotics, and doctors were considering putting a port in her chest for easier treatment.
“IV antibiotics through a port was a big step that would have affected her life a lot. She was about to start school, and frequent treatment would have meant a lot of missed lessons. Zoe loves swimming and wouldn’t have been able to do that either,” Sarah says.
Before the procedure, Zoe had an MRI using the new University of Sheffield technology.
Two scans two weeks apart showed the antibiotics were not significantly improving her lungs, so the port was unnecessary. Her treatment then focused on daily physiotherapy to clear mucus from her lungs.
“It worked really well; she hasn’t had a day off school in months,” Sarah says.
Creating a clear picture of air inside the lungs
Conventional MRI scans are good at diagnosing disease in soft tissue, but struggle picking up the open spaces in lungs. So, the team led by Professor Jim Wild from The University of Sheffield, developed a way for MRI scanners to ‘see’ the invisible gas.
The technology magnetises xenon gas with lasers, creating a strong signal for the scanner to read. The MRI scanner, when tuned to the signal of the magnetised gas, then provides images of the lungs.
Jim explains: “Patients inhale the harmless gas, hold their breath for a few seconds while the scanner collects the images, then breathe it out. The images clearly show the ventilation of the airspaces through their lungs.”
Spotting lung damage that other tests cannot
As Zoe found, the process is easy for children and more straightforward than other tests.
“She practised breathing in the gas before the scan. Then they played her favourite music from Encanto during the scan. She even started dancing, so I had to tell her to lie still, but she enjoyed the whole experience,” Sarah smiles.
While the process is simple, the images are incredibly detailed. They can even spot the structural damage missed by standard tests, providing vital information about how lungs are working.
