Mingtao Wang1,
Caterina Caffes2, Stephen T.C. Wong1, 3,
Kelvin K. Wong1, 3
1Department
of Systems Medicine & Bioengineering, The Methodist Hospital Research
Institute, Houston, TX, United States; 2Texas Children's Hospital,
Houston, TX, United States; 3Department of Radiology, Weill
Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States
In vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a powerful tool to understand neuroanatomical connectivity and to evaluate neuronal integrity in mouse models. To resolve the complex connectome in a small brain in vivo, high spatial resolution imaging are crucial. We present a high resolution in vivo DTI and tractography method for mouse brain at 150~150~150 m3 resolution at 9.4T. The protocol includes a new low-cost elastomeric padding head restrain to significantly reduce head motion. High resolution isotropic diffusion tensor tractography offers high quality fractional anisotropy map and consistent fiber tracking for connectivity studies between brain regions.
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