Longitudinal Imaging of Injured Spinal Cord Myelin and White Matter with 3D Ultrashort Echo Time Magnetization Transfer (UTE-MT) and Diffusion MRI.

ABSTRACT: Quantitative MRI techniques could be helpful to noninvasively and longitudinally monitor dynamic changes in spinal cord white matter following injury, but imaging and postprocessing techniques in small animals remain lacking. Unilateral C5 hemisection lesions were created in a rat model, and ultrashort echo time magnetization transfer (UTE-MT) and diffusion-weighted sequences were used for imaging following injury. Magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) measurements and preferential diffusion along the longitudinal axis of the spinal cord were calculated as fractional anisotropy or an apparent diffusion coefficient ratio over transverse directions. The area of myelinated white matter was obtained by thresholding the spinal cord using mean MTR or diffusion ratio values from the contralesional s

SUBMITTER: Tang Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11433189 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature