A thermally polarized 129 Xe phantom for quality assurance in multi-center hyperpolarized gas MRI studies.

PURPOSE: Hyperpolarized 129 Xe MR is increasingly being adopted worldwide, but no standards exist for assessing or comparing performance at different 129 Xe imaging centers. Therefore, we sought to develop a thermally polarized xenon phantom assembly, approximating the size of a human torso, along with an associated imaging protocol to enable rapid quality-assurance imaging. METHODS: MR-compatible pressure vessels, with an internal volume of 5.85 L, were constructed from pressure-rated, engineering grade PE4710 high-density polyethylene. They were filled with a mixture of 61% natural xenon and 39% oxygen to approximately 11.6 bar and placed in a loader shell filled with a 0.56% saline solution to mimic the human chest. Imaging employed a 2D spoiled gradient-echo sequence using non-slice-selective excitation (TR/TE = 750/6.13 ms, flip angle = 74°, FOV = 40 × 440 mm, matrix = 64 × 32, bandwidth = 30 Hz/pixel, averages = 4), resulting in a 1.6 min acquisition. System characterization and imaging were performed at 8 different MRI centers. RESULTS: At 3 Telsa, 129 Xe in the pressure vessels was characterized by T1 = 580.5 ± 8.3 ms, linewidth = 0.21 ppm, and chemical shift = +10.2 ppm. The phantom assembly was used to obtain transmit voltage calibrations and 2D and 3D images across multiple coil and scanner configurations at 8 sites. Across the 5 sites that employed a standard flexible chest coil, the SNR was 12.4 ± 1.8. CONCLUSION: The high-density polyethylene pressure vessels filled with thermally polarized xenon and associated loader shell combine to form a phantom assembly that enables spectroscopic and imaging acquisitions that can be used for testing, quality assurance, and performance tracking-capabilities essential for standardizing hyperpolarized 129 Xe MRI within and across institutions.

Diffusion tensor imaging using multiple coils for mouse brain connectomics.

The correlation between brain connectivity and psychiatric or neurological diseases has intensified efforts to develop brain connectivity mapping techniques on mouse models of human disease. The neural architecture of mouse brain specimens can be shown non-destructively and three-dimensionally by diffusion tensor imaging, which enables tractography, the establishment of a connectivity matrix and connectomics. However, experiments on cohorts of animals can be prohibitively long. To improve throughput in a 7-T preclinical scanner, we present a novel two-coil system in which each coil is shielded, placed off-isocenter along the axis of the magnet and connected to a receiver circuit of the scanner. Preservation of the quality factor of each coil is essential to signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance and throughput, because mouse brain specimen imaging at 7 T takes place in the coil-dominated noise regime. In that regime, we show a shielding configuration causing no SNR degradation in the two-coil system. To acquire data from several coils simultaneously, the coils are placed in the magnet bore, around the isocenter, in which gradient field distortions can bias diffusion tensor imaging metrics, affect tractography and contaminate measurements of the connectivity matrix. We quantified the experimental alterations in fractional anisotropy and eigenvector direction occurring in each coil. We showed that, when the coils were placed 12 mm away from the isocenter, measurements of the brain connectivity matrix appeared to be minimally altered by gradient field distortions. Simultaneous measurements on two mouse brain specimens demonstrated a full doubling of the diffusion tensor imaging throughput in practice. Each coil produced images devoid of shading or artifact. To further improve the throughput of mouse brain connectomics, we suggested a future expansion of the system to four coils. To better understand acceptable trade-offs between imaging throughput and connectivity matrix integrity, studies may seek to clarify how measurement variability, post-processing techniques and biological variability impact mouse brain connectomics.

Tumor location, but not H3.3K27M, significantly influences the blood-brain-barrier permeability in a genetic mouse model of pediatric high-grade glioma.

Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) occur with strikingly different frequencies in infratentorial and supratentorial regions. Although histologically these malignancies appear similar, they represent distinct diseases. Recent genomic studies have identified histone K27M H3.3/H3.1 mutations in the majority of brainstem pHGGs; these mutations are rarely encountered in pHGGs that arise in the cerebral cortex. Previous research in brainstem pHGGs suggests a restricted permeability of the blood-brain-barrier (BBB). In this work, we use dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI to evaluate BBB permeability in a genetic mouse model of pHGG as a function of location (cortex vs. brainstem, n = 8 mice/group) and histone mutation (mutant H3.3K27M vs. wild-type H3.3, n = 8 mice/group). The pHGG models are induced either in the brainstem or the cerebral cortex and are driven by PDGF signaling and p53 loss with either H3.3K27M or wild-type H3.3. T2-weighted MRI was used to determine tumor location/extent followed by 4D DCE-MRI for estimating the rate constant (K (trans) ) for tracer exchange across the barrier. BBB permeability was 67 % higher in cortical pHGGs relative to brainstem pHGGs (t test, p = 0.012) but was not significantly affected by the expression of mutant H3.3K27M versus wild-type H3.3 (t-test, p = 0.78). Although mice became symptomatic at approximately the same time, the mean volume of cortical tumors was 3.6 times higher than the mean volume of brainstem tumors. The difference between the mean volume of gliomas with wild-type and mutant H3.3 was insignificant. Mean K (trans) was significantly correlated to glioma volume. These results present a possible explanation for the poor response of brainstem pHGGs to systemic therapy. Our findings illustrate a potential role played by the microenvironment in shaping tumor growth and BBB permeability.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: safety and tolerability of hyperpolarized 129Xe MR imaging in healthy volunteers and patients.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of inhaling multiple 1-L volumes of undiluted hyperpolarized xenon 129 ((129)Xe) followed by up to a 16-second breath hold and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was approved by the institutional review board and was HIPAA compliant. Written informed consent was obtained. Forty-four subjects (19 men, 25 women; mean age, 46.1 years ± 18.8 [standard deviation]) were enrolled, consisting of 24 healthy volunteers, 10 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 10 age-matched control subjects. All subjects received three or four 1-L volumes of undiluted hyperpolarized (129)Xe, followed by breath-hold MR imaging. Oxygen saturation, heart rate and rhythm, and blood pressure were continuously monitored. These parameters, along with respiratory rate and subjective symptoms, were assessed after each dose. Subjects' serum biochemistry and hematology were recorded at screening and at 24-hour follow-up. A 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) was obtained at these times and also within 2 hours prior to and 1 hour after (129)Xe MR imaging. Xenon-related symptoms were evaluated for relationship to subject group by using a χ(2) test and to subject age by using logistic regression. Changes in vital signs were tested for significance across subject group and time by using a repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance test. RESULTS: The 44 subjects tolerated all xenon inhalations, no subjects withdrew, and no serious adverse events occurred. No significant changes in vital signs (P > .27) were observed, and no subjects exhibited changes in laboratory test or ECG results at follow-up that were deemed clinically important or required intervention. Most subjects (91%) did experience transient xenon-related symptoms, most commonly dizziness (59%), paresthesia (34%), euphoria (30%), and hypoesthesia (30%). All symptoms resolved without clinical intervention in 1.6 minutes ± 0.9. CONCLUSION: Inhalation of hyperpolarized (129)Xe is well tolerated in healthy subjects and in those with mild or moderate COPD. Subjects do experience mild, transient, xenon-related symptoms, consistent with its known anesthetic properties.

Ventilation defects observed with hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance imaging in a mouse model of acute lung injury.

Regions of diminished ventilation are often evident during functional pulmonary imaging studies, including hyperpolarized gas magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography, and computed tomography (CT). The objective of this study was to characterize the hypointense regions observed via (3)He MRI in a murine model of acute lung injury. LPS at doses ranging from 15-50 µg was intratracheally administered to C57BL/6 mice under anesthesia. Four hours after exposure to either LPS or saline vehicle, mice were imaged via hyperpolarized (3)He MRI. All images were evaluated to identify regions of hypointense signals. Lungs were then characterized by conventional histology, or used to obtain tissue samples from regions of normal and hypointense (3)He signals and analyzed for cytokine content. The characterization of (3)He MRI images identified three distinct types of hypointense patterns: persistent defects, atelectatic defects, and dorsal lucencies. Persistent defects were associated with the administration of LPS. The number of persistent defects depended on the dose of LPS, with a significant increase in mean number of defects in 30-50-µg LPS-dosed mice versus saline-treated control mice. Atelectatic defects predominated in LPS-dosed mice under conditions of low-volume ventilation, and could be reversed with deep inspiration. Dorsal lucencies were present in nearly all mice studied, regardless of the experimental conditions, including control animals that did not receive LPS. A comparison of (3)He MRI with histopathology did not identify tissue abnormalities in regions of low (3)He signal, with the exception of a single region of atelectasis in one mouse. Furthermore, no statistically significant differences were evident in concentrations of IL-1ß, IL-6, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1α, MIP-2, chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (KC), TNFα, and monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1 between hypointense and normally ventilated lung regions in LPS-dosed mice. Thus, this study defines the anatomic, functional, and biochemical characteristics of ventilation defects associated with the administration of LPS in a murine model of acute lung injury.

Quantitative 129Xe MRI detects early impairment of gas-exchange in a rat model of pulmonary hypertension.

Hyperpolarized 129Xe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is capable of regional mapping of pulmonary gas-exchange and has found application in a wide range of pulmonary disorders in humans and animal model analogs. This study is the first application of 129Xe MRI to the monocrotaline rat model of pulmonary hypertension. Such models of preclinical pulmonary hypertension, a disease of the pulmonary vasculature that results in right heart failure and death, are usually assessed with invasive procedures such as right heart catheterization and histopathology. The work here adapted from protocols from clinical 129Xe MRI to enable preclinical imaging of rat models of pulmonary hypertension on a Bruker 7 T scanner. 129Xe spectroscopy and gas-exchange imaging showed reduced 129Xe uptake by red blood cells early in the progression of the disease, and at a later time point was accompanied by increased uptake by barrier tissues, edema, and ventilation defects-all of which are salient characteristics of the monocrotaline model. Imaging results were validated by H&E histology, which showed evidence of remodeling of arterioles. This proof-of-concept study has demonstrated that hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI has strong potential to be used to non-invasively monitor the progression of pulmonary hypertension in preclinical models and potentially to also assess response to therapy.

Small Animal Multivariate Brain Analysis (SAMBA) - a High Throughput Pipeline with a Validation Framework.

While many neuroscience questions aim to understand the human brain, much current knowledge has been gained using animal models, which replicate genetic, structural, and connectivity aspects of the human brain. While voxel-based analysis (VBA) of preclinical magnetic resonance images is widely-used, a thorough examination of the statistical robustness, stability, and error rates is hindered by high computational demands of processing large arrays, and the many parameters involved therein. Thus, workflows are often based on intuition or experience, while preclinical validation studies remain scarce. To increase throughput and reproducibility of quantitative small animal brain studies, we have developed a publicly shared, high throughput VBA pipeline in a high-performance computing environment, called SAMBA. The increased computational efficiency allowed large multidimensional arrays to be processed in 1-3 days-a task that previously took ~1 month. To quantify the variability and reliability of preclinical VBA in rodent models, we propose a validation framework consisting of morphological phantoms, and four metrics. This addresses several sources that impact VBA results, including registration and template construction strategies. We have used this framework to inform the VBA workflow parameters in a VBA study for a mouse model of epilepsy. We also present initial efforts towards standardizing small animal neuroimaging data in a similar fashion with human neuroimaging. We conclude that verifying the accuracy of VBA merits attention, and should be the focus of a broader effort within the community. The proposed framework promotes consistent quality assurance of VBA in preclinical neuroimaging, thus facilitating the creation and communication of robust results.

Applications of 3D printing in small animal magnetic resonance imaging.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has significantly impacted the quality, efficiency, and reproducibility of preclinical magnetic resonance imaging. It has vastly expanded the ability to produce MR-compatible parts that readily permit customization of animal handling, achieve consistent positioning of anatomy and RF coils promptly, and accelerate throughput. It permits the rapid and cost-effective creation of parts customized to a specific imaging study, animal species, animal weight, or even one unique animal, not routinely used in preclinical research. We illustrate the power of this technology by describing five preclinical studies and specific solutions enabled by different 3D printing processes and materials. We describe fixtures, assemblies, and devices that were created to ensure the safety of anesthetized lemurs during an MR examination of their brain or to facilitate localized, contrast-enhanced measurements of white blood cell concentration in a mouse model of pancreatitis. We illustrate expansive use of 3D printing to build a customized birdcage coil and components of a ventilator to enable imaging of pulmonary gas exchange in rats using hyperpolarized Xe 129 . Finally, we present applications of 3D printing to create high-quality, dual RF coils to accelerate brain connectivity mapping in mouse brain specimens and to increase the throughput of brain tumor examinations in a mouse model of pituitary adenoma.

Design of a superconducting volume coil for magnetic resonance microscopy of the mouse brain.

We present the design process of a superconducting volume coil for magnetic resonance microscopy of the mouse brain at 9.4T. The yttrium barium copper oxide coil has been designed through an iterative process of three-dimensional finite-element simulations and validation against room temperature copper coils. Compared to previous designs, the Helmholtz pair provides substantially higher B(1) homogeneity over an extended volume of interest sufficiently large to image biologically relevant specimens. A custom-built cryogenic cooling system maintains the superconducting probe at 60+/-0.1K. Specimen loading and probe retuning can be carried out interactively with the coil at operating temperature, enabling much higher through-put. The operation of the probe is a routine, consistent procedure. Signal-to-noise ratio in a mouse brain increased by a factor ranging from 1.1 to 2.9 as compared to a room-temperature solenoid coil optimized for mouse brain microscopy. We demonstrate images encoded at 10x10x20mum for an entire mouse brain specimen with signal-to-noise ratio of 18 and a total acquisition time of 16.5h, revealing neuroanatomy unseen at lower resolution. Phantom measurements show an effective spatial resolution better than 20mum.

A portable ventilator with integrated physiologic monitoring for hyperpolarized 129Xe MRI in rodents.

Hyperpolarized (HP) 129Xe MRI is emerging as a powerful, non-invasive method to image lung function and is beginning to find clinical application across a range of conditions. As clinical implementation progresses, it becomes important to translate back to well-defined animal models, where novel disease signatures can be characterized longitudinally and validated against histology. To date, preclinical 129Xe MRI has been limited to only a few sites worldwide with 2D imaging that is not generally sufficient to fully capture the heterogeneity of lung disease. To address these limitations and facilitate broader dissemination, we report on a compact and portable HP gas ventilator that integrates all the gas-delivery and physiologic monitoring capabilities required for high-resolution 3D hyperpolarized 129Xe imaging. This ventilator is MR- and HP-gas compatible, driven by inexpensive microcontrollers and open source code, and allows for precise control of the tidal volume and breathing cycle in perorally intubated mice and rats. We use the system to demonstrate data acquisition over multiple breath-holds, during which lung motion is suspended to enable high-resolution 3D imaging of gas-phase and dissolved-phase 129Xe in the lungs. We demonstrate the portability and versatility of the ventilator by imaging a mouse model of lung cancer longitudinally at 2 Tesla, and a healthy rat at 7 Tesla. We also report the detection of subtle spectroscopic fluctuations in phase with the heart rate, superimposed onto larger variations stemming from the respiratory cycle. This ventilator was developed to facilitate duplication and gain broad adoption to accelerate preclinical 129Xe MRI research.

In vivo MR imaging of pulmonary perfusion and gas exchange in rats via continuous extracorporeal infusion of hyperpolarized 129Xe.

BACKGROUND: Hyperpolarized (HP) (129)Xe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) permits high resolution, regional visualization of pulmonary ventilation. Additionally, its reasonably high solubility (>10%) and large chemical shift range (>200 ppm) in tissues allow HP (129)Xe to serve as a regional probe of pulmonary perfusion and gas transport, when introduced directly into the vasculature. In earlier work, vascular delivery was accomplished in rats by first dissolving HP (129)Xe in a biologically compatible carrier solution, injecting the solution into the vasculature, and then detecting HP (129)Xe as it emerged into the alveolar airspaces. Although easily implemented, this approach was constrained by the tolerable injection volume and the duration of the HP (129)Xe signal. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here, we overcome the volume and temporal constraints imposed by injection, by using hydrophobic, microporous, gas-exchange membranes to directly and continuously infuse (129)Xe into the arterial blood of live rats with an extracorporeal (EC) circuit. The resulting gas-phase (129)Xe signal is sufficient to generate diffusive gas exchange- and pulmonary perfusion-dependent, 3D MR images with a nominal resolution of 2×2×2 mm(3). We also show that the (129)Xe signal dynamics during EC infusion are well described by an analytical model that incorporates both mass transport into the blood and longitudinal relaxation. CONCLUSIONS: Extracorporeal infusion of HP (129)Xe enables rapid, 3D MR imaging of rat lungs and, when combined with ventilation imaging, will permit spatially resolved studies of the ventilation-perfusion ratio in small animals. Moreover, EC infusion should allow (129)Xe to be delivered elsewhere in the body and make possible functional and molecular imaging approaches that are currently not feasible using inhaled HP (129)Xe.

Rapid production of specialized animal handling devices using computer-aided design and solid freeform fabrication.

PURPOSE: To develop a process for rapidly and inexpensively producing customized animal handling devices for small animal imaging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To meet the specific needs of a particular imaging experiment, measurements are taken from imaging data and the animal handling devices are designed using 3D computer-aided design (CAD) software. Parts are produced in a few days using solid freeform fabrication (SFF, a.k.a. rapid prototyping). RESULTS: This process is illustrated with the production of an animal handling system for stereotaxically prescribed therapeutic ultrasound and MRI of the mouse brain. The device provides integrated head-fixation, anesthesia delivery, and physiological monitoring in a modular system. Design and production took approximately 1 week and the cost was a small fraction of a traditional machine shop. CONCLUSION: Commercial animal handling products typically have limited functionality and are not integrated with other laboratory infrastructure. However, using CAD and SFF, sophisticated animal handling devices can be produced to meet the specific experimental needs. This process is typically faster and less expensive than using a traditional machine shop, and the products are more robust than typical homemade devices. Using high-quality purpose-built devices permits experiments to be executed with greater consistency and higher throughput.