Laura Elizabeth Gonzalez-Lara1,2,
Xiaoyun Xu, Arthur Brown3, Paula J. Foster1,4
1Imaging
Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, London, ON, Canada; 2Department
of Medical Biophysics , the University of Western Ontario, London, ON,
Canada; 3Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology, the University
of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada; 4Department of Medical
Biophysics, the University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
Among the treatments being studied for spinal cord injury (SCI) an area of great interest is stem cell therapy. In animal models of SCI stem cells are commonly transplanted directly into the injured cord. We show that the noninvasive and 3D nature of MRI is crucial for gaining an appreciation of the location of transplanted stem cells and their fate over time. We show how MRI allows us to verify precise delivery of the cells to the intended target in vivo and to observe the overall distribution beyond the tissue or organ of interest at different time points.
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