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Abstract #3483

Hardware & Software Design for Serial & Longitudinal Rat MR Elastography Studies

Kevin John Glaser1, Jun Chen1, Meng Yin1, Thomas Hulshizer1, Phillip Rossman1, Richard Ehman1

1Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States


This work demonstrates an approach to rat liver MR elastography (MRE) designed to facilitate serial and longitudinal studies of hepatic stiffness for applications such as monitoring disease progression and treatment efficacy. A large, thin driver was constructed that allowed for rapid positioning of each animal, and a rapid EPI MRE acquisition was used to measure liver stiffness. Results are shown demonstrating hepatic changes in rats due to a bile duct ligation (BDL) surgery over 4 weeks compared to rats given a sham surgery.