Jon Orlando Cleary1,2, Anthony Nathan Price1, David L. Thomas2,3, Peter J. Scambler4, Vanessa Kyriakopoulou4, Roger J. Ordidge2,3, Mark Francis Lythgoe1
1Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, London, UK; 2Department of Medical Physics and Bioengineering, University College London, London, UK; 3Wellcome Trust Advanced MRI Laboratory, University College London, London, UK; 4Molecular Medicine Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK
Phenotyping transgenic mice advances the study of gene function in cardiac development and disease. MRI an emerging technique for mouse embryo screening usually relies on the use of fixative containing gadolinium-chelate, resulting in reduced tissue T1 and higher signal in short TR sequences used for high-resolution scans. There is little data on fixation time, Gd concentration and contrast optimisation for imaging of embryos in the literature. We present a study to improve contrast in the embryo heart through preparation and MR scan parameter optimisation. We then applied this to screening embryos heterozygous for the gene Chd7, implicated in CHARGE syndrome.