title: Ex vivo magnetic resonance imaging of rat spinal cord at 9.4 T.
abstract: The magnetic resonance (MR) properties of the rat spinal cord were characterized at the T9 level with ex vivo experiments performed at 9.4 T. The inherent endogenous contrast parameters, proton density (PD), longitudinal and transverse relaxation times T1 and T2, and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) were measured separately for the grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM). Analysis of the measurements indicated that these tissues have statistically different proton densities with means PD(GM)=54.8+/-2.5% versus PD(WM)=45.2+/-2.4%, and different T1 values with means T1GM=2.28+/-0.23 s versus T1WM=1.97+/-0.21 s. The corresponding values for T2 were T2GM=31.8+/-4.9 ms versus T2WM=29.5+/-4.9 ms, and the difference was insignificant. The difference between MTR(GM)=31.2+/-6.1% and MTR(WM)=33.1+/-5.9% was also insignificant. These results collectively suggest that PD and T1 are the two most important parameters that determine the observed contrast on spinal cord images acquired at 9.4 T. Therefore, in MR imaging studies of spinal cord at this field strength, these parameters need to be considered not only in optimizing the protocols but also in signal enhancement strategies involving exogenous contrast agents.
authors.affiliation: Hoglund Brain Imaging Center, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA. mbilgen@kumc.edu
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bilgen
authors.forename: Baraa
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Al-Hafez
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Malone
authors.forename: Irina V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Smirnova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000033:anatomy & histology*