Assessment of Pathologic Mouse Spinal Cord Recovery Using High-Resolution Diffusion and ASL-Based Perfusion Imaging

Guillaume Duhamel¹, Patrick Decherchi², Tanguy Marqueste², Patrick J. Cozzone¹, Virginie Callot¹

The combined use of diffusion and perfusion imaging may greatly improve the characterization of spinal cord (SC) pathologies by allowing the detection of functional impairments and deficient tissue blood supply. In this study, high-resolution DTI and ASL-perfusion images were obtained on a mouse SC injury model (hemisection). Sensitivity and image quality of both modalities allowed to accurately detecting the lesion affecting white matter and gray matter. Moreover, the follow-up of quantitative diffusion/perfusion measurements permitted to highlight structural and vascular progressive recovery of the tissue. This preliminary study demonstrates the promising potentiality of the combined diffusion/perfusion protocol for SC investigation.