Abstract #2014

Petiet A, Hedlund L, Johnson G

Magnetic resonance histology (MRH) has become a valuable tool in assessing the developing rat embryo. This study describes a staining and fixation method to enhance the SNR. Rat fetuses were immersion-fixed for up to 24 h in Bouins with ProHance at varied concentrations. The results showed that T1 was reduced, yielding a 5-fold SNR increase. T2 was also reduced with increasing concentration and immersion time, which decreased the SNR. An optimization of those variables has allowed the acquisition of 20-micron 3D images in 3 h, making MRH a routine tool for evaluating embryonic development.