Both the development of accurate models of lung function and their quantitative validation can be significantly enhanced by the use of functional imaging techniques. The advent of hyperpolarized noble gas magnetic resonance imaging (MRI ) technology has increased the amount of local, functional information we can obtain from the lung. In particular, application of 3 He to measure apparent diffusion coefficients has enabled some measure of lung microstructure and airspace size within the lung. Models mimicking image acquisition in hyperpolarized gas MRI can improve understanding of the relationship between image findings and lung structure, and can be used to improve the definition of imaging protocols. In this paper, we review the state of the art in hyperpolarized gas MRI modelling. We also present our own results, obtained using a Monte Carlo approach and a realistic alveolar sac geometry, which has previously been applied in functional lung studies. In this way, we demonstrate the potential for models combining lung function and image acquisition, which could provide valuable tools in both basic studies and clinical practice.

Abstract. In this paper, we present a set of applications that allow performance of electrophysiological simulations on individualized models generated using high-resolution MRI data of rabbit hearts. For this purpose, we propose a pipeline consisting of: extraction of significant structures from the images, generation of meshes, and application of an electrophysiological solver. In order to make it as useful as possible, we impose several requirements on the development of the pipeline. It has to be fast, aiming towards real time in the future. As much as possible, it must use non-commercial, freely available software (mostly open source). In order to verify the methodology, a set of high resolution MRI images of a rabbit heart is investigated and tested; results are presented in this work.

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