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Measurement of MR signal and T2* in lung to characterize a tight skin mouse model of emphysema using single‐point imaging
Author(s) -
Olsson Lars E.,
Lindahl Maria,
Önnervik PerOla,
Johansson Lars B.,
Palmér Malin,
Reimer Martina Kvist,
Hultin Leif,
Hockings Paul D.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.20840
Subject(s) - parenchyma , lung , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear medicine , in vivo , histology , pathology , intensity (physics) , signal (programming language) , radiology , biology , physics , microbiology and biotechnology , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
Purpose To evaluate whether MRI signal and T2* measurements of lung tissue acquired at ultrashort detection times (tds) can detect emphysematous changes in lungs. Materials and Methods MR signal intensity of in vivo mouse lungs was measured at 4.7 T at tds of 0.2 and 0.4 msec using single‐point imaging (SPI). T2* was calculated from the measurements obtained at the two tds. Two groups of 8‐ and 30‐week‐old Tight Skin (TS) and aged‐matched CB57BL/6 mice were examined. The TS mice spontaneously developed emphysema‐like alveolar enlargement. In vivo micro‐computed tomography (μCT) scanning and histology were used as reference methods. Results MR signal and T2* were significantly lower in the lungs of TS mice than in controls. There were no significant differences between the different age groups. MR signal in lung parenchyma correlated linearly ( P < 0.0001, r = 0.89) with μCT mass density, and T2* correlated linearly ( P < 0.0001, r = –0.91) with the alveoli size (mean linear intercept [MLI]). Conclusion The MR signal intensity and T2* measured at short tds can be used as imaging biomarkers to characterize parenchyma density and alveolar size, respectively. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.