Jinjin Zhang1, Djaudat Idiyatullin1, Vladimir Leon Salazar2, Curtis Corum1, Michael Garwood1
1Center of Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States; 2Div. of TMD and Orofacial Pain, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States
The detection and accurate prenatal diagnosis of skeletal dysplasia remain problematic with ultrasonography. Although MRI can be used to diagnose some fetal musculoskeletal abnormalities, studies using MRI to image fetal bones directly are limited. Here, SWIFT, which is sensitive to short T2 signals, was utilized to image craniofacial bones and to measure the T1 of a fetal mouse head. Due to the near absence of T2-weighting, SWIFT images display close to pure T1-weighted contrast. The feasibility of SWIFT to allow qualitative and quantitative evaluation of fetal skeleton makes it a powerful complement to ultrasonography for the detection and diagnosis of skeletal dysplasia.
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