Whole body imaging at 3T with multi-coil array and compressed sensing for metastasis screening with cryo-fluorescence tomography validation.

Synopsis

Keywords: Biology, Models, Methods, Whole Body, compressed sensing; metastasis; fluorescence tomography

Motivation: Cancer metastasis involves multiple organs and traditional bioluminescent imaging lacks spatial resolution to locate metastatic foci. New MRI imaging protocols need to be developed to image metastasis distribution over the whole mouse body.

Goal(s):

1. Acquire high resolution 3D volumes in an acceptable time frame.
2. Validate findings using cryo-fluorescence tomography (CFT).

Approach:

1. An 8-channel array coil was used to acquire whole body isotropic volumes with compressed sensing.
2. Post imaging CFT datasets were acquired for validation.
   

Results:

1. High contrast volumes of mouse body were acquired at 200x200x200 μm in 16 minutes.
2. Liver metastatic foci observed.
3. Correspondence of mouse anatomy with MRI and CFT achieved.

Impact: Whole body imaging with 8-channel array coil permits longitudinal visualization of major organs in normal and diseased states. Compressed sensing optimizes workflow for high throughput screening, and Cryo-Fluorescence tomography can then be used as gold standard for validation of MRI.