A respiration-gated synchrotron radiation computed tomography (SRCT) technique, which allows visualization and direct quantification of inhaled stable xenon gas, was used to study the effect of tidal volume (Vt) on regional lung ventilation. High-resolution maps (pixel size 0.35 x 0.35 mm) of local washin time constants (tau) and regional specific ventilation were obtained in five anesthetized, paralyzed, and mechanically ventilated rabbits in upright body position at the fourth, sixth, and eighth dorsal vertebral levels with a Vt from 4.9 +/- 0.3 to 7.9 +/- 0.4 ml/kg (means +/- SE). Increasing Vt without an increase in minute ventilation resulted in a proportional increase of mean specific ventilation up to 65% in all studied lung levels and reduced the scattering of washin tau values. The tau values had log-normal distributions. The results indicate that an increase in Vt decreases nonuniformity of intraregional ventilatory gas exchange. The findings suggest that (SRCT) provides a new quantitative tool with high spatial discrimination ability for assessment of changes in peripheral pulmonary gas distribution during mechanical ventilation.