Premium
Avian egg latebra as brain tissue water diffusion model
Author(s) -
Maier Stephan E.,
Mitsouras Dimitris,
Mulkern Robert V.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
magnetic resonance in medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.696
H-Index - 225
eISSN - 1522-2594
pISSN - 0740-3194
DOI - 10.1002/mrm.24941
Subject(s) - diffusion , chemistry , nuclear magnetic resonance , molecular diffusion , diffusion mri , signal (programming language) , yolk , thermodynamics , magnetic resonance imaging , physics , medicine , metric (unit) , operations management , food science , radiology , computer science , economics , programming language
Purpose Simplified models of non‐monoexponential diffusion signal decay are of great interest to study the basic constituents of complex diffusion behavior in tissues. The latebra, a unique structure uniformly present in the yolk of avian eggs, exhibits a non‐monoexponential diffusion signal decay. This model is more complex than simple phantoms based on differences between water and lipid diffusion, but is also devoid of microscopic structures with preferential orientation or perfusion effects. Methods Diffusion scans with multiple b ‐values were performed on a clinical 3 Tesla system in raw and boiled chicken eggs equilibrated to room temperature. Diffusion encoding was applied over the ranges 5–5,000 and 5–50,000 s/mm 2 . A low read‐out bandwidth and chemical shift was used for reliable lipid/water separation. Signal decays were fitted with exponential functions. Results The latebra, when measured over the 5–5,000 s/mm 2 range, exhibited independent of preparation clearly biexponential diffusion, with diffusion parameters similar to those typically observed in in vivo human brain. For the range 5–50,000 s/mm 2 , there was evidence of a small third, very slow diffusing water component. Conclusion The latebra of the avian egg contains membrane structures, which may explain a deviation from a simple monoexponential diffusion signal decay, which is remarkably similar to the deviation observed in brain tissue. Magn Reson Med 72:501–509, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.