Magnetic resonance images of the lungs of a guinea pig have been produced using hyperpolarized helium as the source of the MR signal. The resulting images are not yet sufficiently optimized to reveal fine structural detail within the lung, but the spectacular signal from this normally signal-deficient organ system offers great promise for eventual in vivo imaging experiments. Fast 2D and 3D GRASS sequences with very small flip angles were employed to conserve the norenewable longitudinal magnetization. We discuss various unique features associated with performing MRI with hyperpolarized gases, such as the selection of the noble gas species, polarization technique, and constraints on the MR pulse sequence.

We describe an atlas of the C57BL/6 mouse brain based on MRI and conventional Nissl histology. Magnetic resonance microscopy was performed on a total of 14 specimens that were actively stained to enhance tissue contrast. Images were acquired with three different MR protocols yielding contrast dependent on spin lattice relaxation (T1), spin spin relaxation (T2), and magnetic susceptibility (T2*). Spatial resolution was 21.5 microns (isotropic). Conventional histology (Nissl) was performed on a limited set of these same specimens and the Nissl images were registered (3D-to-3D) to the MR data. Probabilistic atlases for 37 structures are provided, along with average atlases. The availability of three different MR protocols, the Nissl data, and the labels provides a rich set of options for registration of other atlases to the same coordinate system, thus facilitating data-sharing. All the data is available for download via the web.

Interest in structural brain connectivity has grown with the understanding that abnormal neural connections may play a role in neurologic and psychiatric diseases. Small animal connectivity mapping techniques are particularly important for identifying aberrant connectivity in disease models. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging tractography can provide nondestructive, 3D, brain-wide connectivity maps, but has historically been limited by low spatial resolution, low signal-to-noise ratio, and the difficulty in estimating multiple fiber orientations within a single image voxel. Small animal diffusion tractography can be substantially improved through the combination of ex vivo MRI with exogenous contrast agents, advanced diffusion acquisition and reconstruction techniques, and probabilistic fiber tracking. Here, we present a comprehensive, probabilistic tractography connectome of the mouse brain at microscopic resolution, and a comparison of these data with a neuronal tracer-based connectivity data from the Allen Brain Atlas. This work serves as a reference database for future tractography studies in the mouse brain, and demonstrates the fundamental differences between tractography and neuronal tracer data.

Effective pulmonary gas exchange relies on the free diffusion of gases across the thin tissue barrier separating airspace from the capillary red blood cells (RBCs). Pulmonary pathologies, such as inflammation, fibrosis, and edema, which cause an increased blood-gas barrier thickness, impair the efficiency of this exchange. However, definitive assessment of such gas-exchange abnormalities is challenging, because no methods currently exist to directly image the gas transfer process. Here we exploit the solubility and chemical shift of 129 Xe, the magnetic resonance signal of which has been enhanced by 10 5 with hyperpolarization, to differentially image its transfer from the airspaces into the tissue barrier spaces and RBCs in the gas exchange regions of the lung. Based on a simple diffusion model, we estimate that this MR imaging method for measuring 129 Xe alveolar-capillary transfer is sensitive to changes in blood-gas barrier thickness of Ϸ5 m. We validate the successful separation of tissue barrier and RBC images and show the utility of this method in a rat model of pulmonary fibrosis where 129 Xe replenishment of the RBCs is severely impaired in regions of lung injury.diffusing capacity ͉ fibrosis ͉ gas exchange ͉ blood-gas barrier

129Xe apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) MRI offers an alternative to 3He ADC MRI, given its greater availability and lower cost. To demonstrate the feasibility of HP 129Xe ADC MRI, we present results from healthy volunteers (HV), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) subjects, and age-matched healthy controls (AMC). The mean parenchymal ADC was 0.036±0.003 cm2/s for HV, 0.043±0.006 cm2/s for AMC, and 0.056±0.008 cm2/s for COPD subjects with emphysema. In healthy individuals, but not the COPD group, ADC decreased significantly in the anterior-posterior direction by ~22% (p = 0.006, AMC; 0.0059, HV), likely due to gravity-induced tissue compression. The COPD group exhibited a significantly larger superior-inferior ADC reduction (~28%) than the healthy groups (~24%) (p = 0.00018 HV; p = 3.45×10-5 AMC), consistent with smoking-related tissue destruction in the superior lung. Superior-inferior gradients in healthy subjects may result from regional differences in xenon concentration. ADC was significantly correlated with pulmonary function tests (FEV1, r=-0.77, p=0.0002; FEV1/FVC, r=-0.78, p=0.0002; DLCO/VA, r=-0.77, p=0.0002), and in healthy groups, increased with age by 0.0002 cm2/s/yr (r=0.56, p=0.02). This study shows 129Xe ADC MRI is clinically feasible, sufficiently sensitive to distinguish HV from subjects with emphysema, and detects age and posture-dependent changes.

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A method for rapid morphologic phenotyping is demonstrated by using magnetic resonance microscopy. Whole fixed C57BL/6J mice were imaged at 110-microm isotropic resolution; limited volumes of the intact specimen, at 50-microm isotropic resolution; and isolated organs, at 25-microm isotropic resolution. The three-dimensional imaging technique was applied to uricase knockout mice to demonstrate the method for the evaluation of morphologic phenotype.

BackgroundOne of the central physiological functions of the lungs is to transfer inhaled gases from the alveoli to pulmonary capillary blood. However, current measures of alveolar gas uptake provide only global information and thus lack the sensitivity and specificity needed to account for regional variations in gas exchange.Methods and Principal FindingsHere we exploit the solubility, high magnetic resonance (MR) signal intensity, and large chemical shift of hyperpolarized (HP) 129Xe to probe the regional uptake of alveolar gases by directly imaging HP 129Xe dissolved in the gas exchange tissues and pulmonary capillary blood of human subjects. The resulting single breath-hold, three-dimensional MR images are optimized using millisecond repetition times and high flip angle radio-frequency pulses, because the dissolved HP 129Xe magnetization is rapidly replenished by diffusive exchange with alveolar 129Xe. The dissolved HP 129Xe MR images display significant, directional heterogeneity, with increased signal intensity observed from the gravity-dependent portions of the lungs.ConclusionsThe features observed in dissolved-phase 129Xe MR images are consistent with gravity-dependent lung deformation, which produces increased ventilation, reduced alveolar size (i.e., higher surface-to-volume ratios), higher tissue densities, and increased perfusion in the dependent portions of the lungs. Thus, these results suggest that dissolved HP 129Xe imaging reports on pulmonary function at a fundamental level.