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Possibilities and limitations for high resolution small animal MRI on a clinical whole-body 3T scanner

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Abstract

Object

To investigate the potential of a clinical 3 T scanner to perform MRI of small rodents.

Materials and methods

Different dedicated small animal coils and several imaging sequences were evaluated to optimize image quality with respect to SNR, contrast and spatial resolution. As an application, optimal grey-white-matter contrast and resolution were investigated for rats. Furthermore, manganese-enhanced MRI was applied in mice with unilateral crush injury of the optic nerve to investigate coil performance on topographic mapping of the visual projection.

Results

Differences in SNR and CNR up to factor 3 and more were observed between the investigated coils. The best grey-white matter contrast was achieved with a high resolution 3D T 2-weighted TSE (SPACE) sequence. Delineation of the retino-tectal projection and detection of defined visual pathway damage on the level of the optic nerve could be achieved by using a T 1-weighted, 3D gradient echo sequence with isotropic resolution of (0.2 mm)3.

Conclusions

Experimental studies in small rodents requiring high spatial resolution can be performed by using a clinical 3 T scanner with appropriate dedicated coils.

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Notes

  1. Original paper states an SNR of 16, but the SNR calculation from magnitude images does not include the correction factor of Eq. 1.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Noras MRI products GmbH and Siemens Medical for their support and the mechanical workshop of the Friedrich-Schiller University Jena for their help in creating the various head holders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Physics Group, Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology I, Jena University Hospital, Philosophenweg 3, Gebäude 5, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Karl-Heinz Herrmann, Ines Krumbein & Jürgen R. Reichenbach

  2. Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Erlanger Allee 101, 07747, Jena, Germany

    Silvio Schmidt, Alexandra Kretz, Martin Metzler, Christian Gaser & Otto W. Witte

  3. Leibniz Institute for Age Research, Fritz Lipmann Institute, Beutenberger Str.11, 07745, Jena, Germany

    Ronny Haenold

  4. Department of Psychiatry , Jena University Hospital, Philosophenweg 3, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Christian Gaser

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  1. Karl-Heinz Herrmann
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  2. Silvio Schmidt
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Correspondence to Karl-Heinz Herrmann.

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Herrmann, KH., Schmidt, S., Kretz, A. et al. Possibilities and limitations for high resolution small animal MRI on a clinical whole-body 3T scanner. Magn Reson Mater Phy 25, 233–244 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-011-0284-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10334-011-0284-5

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