High-field diffusion tensor imaging of mouse brain in vivo using single-shot STEAM MRI

Item Type:	Article
Title:	High-field diffusion tensor imaging of mouse brain in vivo using single-shot STEAM MRI
Creators Name:	Boretius, S. and Wuerfel, J. and Zipp, F. and Frahm, J. and Michaelis, T.
Abstract:	Information about the microstructural organization of cerebral white matter that is accessible by magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) gains increasing importance for studies of animal brain. Particular challenges occur for in vivo conditions as well as at high magnetic fields. Here, we have employed a diffusion-weighted (DW) single-shot STEAM MRI sequence for DTI of mouse brain in vivo at 7 T. The approach exploits the increased longitudinal magnetization and prolonged T1 relaxation times of water protons at higher magnetic field strengths without suffering from susceptibility-induced artifacts. When compared to studies at 2.35 T, half Fourier DW STEAM MRI at 7 T yielded a substantial gain in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) that could be invested either in a reduction of the measurement time or an increase of the spatial resolution. Thus, for a measurement time of 3h, DTI with a voxel size of 117 microm x 117 microm x 720 microm not only resulted in high-quality maps of the fractional anisotropy and main diffusion direction (MDD), but also allowed for fiber tracking of major mouse brain structures in vivo.
Keywords:	Magnetic resonance imaging, Diffusion tensor imaging, Fiber tractography, Brain, Animals, Mice
Source:	Journal of Neuroscience Methods
ISSN:	0165-0270
Publisher:	Elsevier
Volume:	161
Number:	1
Page Range:	112-117
Date:	30 March 2007
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2006.10.019
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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