Cryogenically-cooled technology significantly enhances current capabilities of cardiac and brain MRI in mice

To effectively study cardiac morphology and function, or follow neuroinflammatory processes in the brain, image quality is everything. The current capabilities of cardiac and brain MRI in mice are being significantly enhanced by cryogenically-cooled technology, which is proving invaluable to researchers around the world.

Cardiac morphology and function assessment of mice by magnetic resonance imaging is of increasing interest for a variety of mouse models in preclinical cardiac research, such as myocardial infarction models or myocardial injury/remodeling in genetically or pharmacologically induced hypertension.

Standard signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) constraints directly limit image quality and thus blood myocardium delineation, both of which crucially depend on high spatial resolution.

Delivering a significant signal-to-noise (SNR) gain of a factor of 3.0 to 5.0 over conventional room temperature coils, spatio-temporal resolution is directly boosted, providing sufficient detail to expand the study of cardiac morphology and function, as well as neuroinflammatory processes in the brain.

The markedly improved image quality shows better delineation of myocardial borders and enhances depiction of papillary muscles and trabeculae – facilitating more accurate cardiac chamber quantification.

With high resolution non-invasive imaging techniques a comprehensive view of brain inflammation during the pathogenesis of autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) can be achieved; inflammatory infiltrates within various regions of the brain can be studied in detail – even without the use of contrast agents – whilst showing excellent correspondence with conventional histology.

This opens up a real opportunity to follow neuroinflammatory processes even during the early stages of disease progression. High-resolution MRI not only complements conventional histology, but also enables longitudinal studies of the kinetics and dynamics of immune cell infiltration.