Abstract #3248

In Vivo High Resolution Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Mouse Brain Using a Cryogenic Probe at 11.7 T

Dan Wu¹, Jiadi Xu², Michael T. McMahon², Peter C. M. van Zijl²,³, Susumu Mori,²³, Jiangyang Zhang³

¹Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medcine, Baltimore, MD, United States; ²F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States; ³Russel H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medcine, Baltimore, MD, United States

In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of collecting high resolution diffusion tensor images (DTI) of live mouse brains using a cryogenic probe in combination with fast imaging sequences. Multi-slice DTI data with a resolution of 0.12 mm x 0.12 mm x 0.5 mm could be acquired within 40 minutes, and three dimensional DTI data of the entire mouse brain at 0.125 mm isotropic resolution could be obtained within 2 hours. This resolution, which was previously only available with ex vivo imaging, enabled non-invasive reconstruction of fine white matter tracts of the thalamus.