Abstract #0977

Foniok T, Qiao M, Kokotailo R, Tomanek B, Tuor U

Magnetization transfer (MT) imaging is potentially useful for detecting cerebral white matter injury. MT imaging was performed on neonatal, juvenile, and adult rats. The MT ratio (MTR) increased during development, particularly for white matter and its variation with an increasing number of saturation pulses or RF power were similar irrespective of age (i.e., 60-80 pulses and 60 T in single slice experiments). When subjected to hypoxia-ischemia, white and gray matter MTR was substantially reduced. Thus, MT was sensitive to developmental cerebral changes and hypoxic-ischemic injury. Optimization of the technique was similar for all ages and injured tissue.