Patrick William Hales1, Fleur Mason2, Rebecca Burton2, Christian Bollensdorff2, Peter Kohl2, Jurgen Schneider1
1Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxon, UK; 2Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, Oxford, Oxon, UK
We have monitored the changes in the DTI parameters of ex-vivo rat hearts over time, in order to determine the useful lifetime of these samples in long term studies. Initial results have shown that after a period of approximately 50 hours post excision, the mean ADC and FA values in the myocardium start to change. By monitoring changes in orientation of the primary eigenvector over time, on a voxel-by-voxel basis, we are able to examine regional changes in the structure and composition of the myocardium.