In vivo NMR Imaging Methods and Protocols

Part I. Basics of MRI

1. Physical Basics of NMR

Rolf Pohmann

2. Spatial Encoding - Basic Imaging Sequences

Rolf Pohmann

3. Basic Contrast Mechanisms

Leif Schröder and Cornelius Faber

4. Scanner Components

Volker Behr

5. Small Animal Preparation and Handling in MRI

Patrick McConville

Part II. Special Techniques

6. Cerebral Perfusion MRI in Mice

Frank Kober, Guillaume Duhamel, and Virginie Callot

7. High Field Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Small Animals and Excised Tissue

Bernadette Erokwu, Chris Flask, and Vikas Gulani

8. The BOLD Effect

Joan M. Greve

9. Screening of CEST MR Contrast Agents

Xiaolei Song, Kannie W.Y. Chan, and Michael T. McMahon

10. Hyperpolarized Noble Gases as Contrast Agents

Xin Zhou

11. Hyperpolarized Molecules in Solution

Jan Henrik Ardenkjaer-Larsen, Haukur Jóhannesson, Stefan J. Petersson, and Jan Wolber

12. MR Oximetry

Jeff F. Dunn

13. MRI using Intermolecular Multiple-Quantum Coherences

Rosa T. Branca

Part III. Brain Applications

14. Experimental Stroke Research: The Contributions of In vivo MRI

Therése Kallur and Mathias Hoehn

15. Volumetry and Other Quantitative Measurements to Assess the Rodent Brain

Alize Scheenstra, Jouke Dijkstra, and Louise van der Weerd

16. Models of Neurodegenerative Disease - Alzheimer’s Anatomical and Amyloid Plaque Imaging

Alexandra Petiet, Benoit Delatour, and Marc Dhenain

17. MRI in Animal Models of Psychiatric Disorders

Dana S. Poole, Melly S. Oitzl, and Louise van der Weerd

18. Spectroscopic Imaging of the Mouse Brain

Dennis W. J. Klomp and W. Klaas Jan Renema

Part IV. Spine Applications

19. Spinal Cord - MR of Rodent Models

Virginie Callot, Guillaume Duhamel, and Frank Kober

Part V. Cardiovascular Applications

20. Assessment of Cardiac Function

Jürgen E. Schneider

21. Plaque Imaging in Murine Models of Cardiovascular Disease

Gert Klug, Volker Herold, and Karl-Heinz Hiller

22. Interventional MRI in the Cardiovascular System

Harald H. Quick

23. MR for the Investigation of Murine Vasculature

Christoph Jacoby and Ulrich Flögel

Part VI. Lung Applications

24. MRI of the Lung: Non-invasive Protocols and Applications to Small Animal Models of Lung Disease

Magdalena Zurek and Yannick Crémillieux

Part VII. Cancer Models

25. Characterization of Tumor Vasculature in Mouse Brain by USPIO Contrast-enhanced MRI

Giulio Gambarota and William Leenders

26. Cancer Models - A Multiparametric Application of M

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging represents a technique that is indispensable in every day biomedical diagnostics. Thanks to the numerous ways to manipulate and detect an NMR signal, it is possible to obtain a variety of information with excellent spatial and temporal resolution. Today s MRI techniques go far beyond the illustration of pure anatomical structures and include the revealing of processes down to the molecular level. The number of small animal imaging centers relying on MRI as a key method for preclinical research to understand diseases and to test for novel treatments is growing rapidly. In Vivo NMR Imaging: Methods and Protocols is written as an experimental laboratory text to provide a descriptive approach of the various applications of magnetic resonance imaging and its underlying principles. Starting from a compact introduction of basic NMR physics and image encoding techniques suitable for a broad audience in the life sciences, the concept focuses on addressing the many ways of generating contrast in MR images. The authors cover an interdisciplinary range of problems to be addressed by this non-invasive modality, including study protocols for addressing morphological, physiological, functional, and biochemical aspects of various tissues in living organisms. Information about practical aspects of designing experimental studies that follow the special conditions for micro imaging setups are also provided.

Written in the successful Methods in Molecular Biology series format, In Vivo NMR Imaging: Methods and Protocols aims to be an experimental compendium of modern in vivo MR imaging with special focus on recent developments in molecular imaging and new protocols for imaging metabolism and molecular markers.