Cerebral blood flow MRI in mice using the cardiac-spin-labeling technique.
Continuous arterial spin labeling MRI with a separate neck labeling coil provides a highly sensitive method to image cerebral blood flow (CBF). In mice, however, this has not been possible because the proximity of the neck coil to the brain uses the neck coil to significantly saturate the brain signal. To overcome this limitation the cardiac spin labeling (CSL) technique is introduced in which the labeling coil is placed at the heart position. To demonstrate its utility, CSL CBF was applied to image quantitative basal CBF and hypercapnia-induced CBF changes. This approach provides a practical means to image CBF with high sensitivity in small animals, compares favorably to existing mouse CBF imaging techniques, and could broaden CBF applications in mice where many brain disease and transgenic models are widely available.
Muir
Eric R
ER
Department of Neurology, Yerkes Imaging Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30329, USA.
Shen
Qiang
Q
Duong
Timothy Q
TQ
D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL