Abstract #0209

Comparison of Rate of Islet Loss in Syngeneic, Allogeneic and Xenogeneic Grafts in Rat Using Quantification of Iron Oxide Labeled Islet Cells by 3D Radial UTE MRI.

Lindsey Alexandra Crowe¹, Frederic Ris², Sonia Nielles-Vallespin³, Peter Speier³, Michel Kocher⁴, Solange Masson², Christian Toso², Domenico Bosco², Thierry Berney², Jean-Paul Valle¹

¹Department of Radiology, Geneva University Hospital, University of Geneva, Faculty of Medicine, Geneva, Switzerland; ²Cell Isolation and Transplant Center, Department of Surgery, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland; ³Siemens AG Medical Solutions, Erlangen, Germany; ⁴Biomedical Imaging Group, School of Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

In-vivo 3D difference ultra-short echo time (dUTE) imaging gives quantitative positive contrast images for serial examination by automatic segmentation of iron oxide labeled islet cell clusters transplanted into the liver. Coverage of the whole liver in the absence of cardiac and respiratory motion artifact, and isotropic resolution is obtained with uniform background suppression. Three types of grafts: syngeneic, allogeneic and xenogeneic, were studied over time in rat, with success of islet graft, effect of magnetofection and rate of islet loss measurably different. The method shows promise for robust long term tracking of cell rejection in patients.