title: A head holder for magnetic resonance imaging that allows the stereotaxic alignment of spontaneously occurring intracranial mouse tumors.
abstract: The use of stereotaxic neurosurgery in rodent models of human disease requires the alignment of central nervous system (CNS) structures that can be identified and surgically approached with great accuracy. Current technologies make possible development of mouse lines with enhanced predispositions for the development of various diseases including tumors. When such tumors arise in the brain their location is unpredictable. Obtaining a biopsy or stereotaxically delivering local therapy requires that the site of such tumors be known with great precision. We devised a method to correlate images of mouse brain tumors acquired by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with stereotaxic coordinates that can be used for obtaining biopsies or administering local therapy. We constructed a head holder containing a pair of tubes filled with a substance that could be imaged by MR and which were separated by varying distances. This allowed the precise localization of the tumor in all three dimensions. The strategy we employed is adaptable to other imaging modalities and to other body sites.
authors: Department of Neurological Surgery, Preuss Laboratory of Molecular Neuro-Oncology, Brain Tumor Research Center, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143-0520, USA.
authors: Tsuyoshi
authors: T
authors: Tada
authors: Mike
authors: M
authors: Wendland
authors: Nathan
authors: N
authors: Watson
authors: Nagato
authors: N
authors: Kuriyama
authors: Hiroko
authors: H
authors: Kuriyama
authors: Tim
authors: T
authors: Roberts
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Burns
authors: William
authors: W
authors: Weiss
authors: Mark A
authors: MA
authors: Israel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D003911:Dextrans; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA / Q000494:pharmacology; D005910:Glioma / Q000473:pathology*; D007501:Iron / Q000494:pharmacology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D010087:Oxides / Q000494:pharmacology; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D003911:Dextrans; D058185:Magnetite Nanoparticles; D010087:Oxides; D007501:Iron; C065507:ferumoxides; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D052203:Ferrosoferric Oxide