Lilia
V. Ileva1, Marcelino Bernardo2,3, Diane Palmieri4,
Patricia Steeg4, Joseph Kalen1, Peter Choyke2
1Small Animal Imaging Program,
SAIC-Frederick, NCI-Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States; 2Molecular
Imaging Program, NCI, NIH, Bethesda,
MD, United States; 3Imaging Physics, SAIC-Frederick,
NCI-Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States; 4Laboratory of
Molecular Pharmacology, NCI, NIH, Bethesda, MD, United States
Multiple
mouse MRI is of critical importance in preclinical cancer research when
longitudinal studies with multiple animals is required. This work presents a
four-mouse brain imaging coil system and its application in the development
of a breast cancer brain metastasis mouse model. The four-mouse SENSE array
is integrated in a single platform with physiological support system. Six
imaging sessions on 18 mice were performed weekly to monitor the initiation
and progression of the brain metastases. The usage of the multiple mouse
brain coil system significantly improved the efficiency of MRI studies
involving serial imaging of multiple small animals.