Erik Holt Clayton1, Qing Wang1,
Sheng Kwei Song2, Philip V. Bayly1,3
1Mechanical Aerospace & Structural
Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United
States; 2Radiology/Radiological Sciences, Washington University in
St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States; 3Biomedical
Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United
States
MR
elastography (MRE) shows great promise for estimating the stiffness of
various biological tissues. In this study, the shear modulus of the mouse eye
vitreous humor was determined with MRE. A novel corneal actuation system was
devised to non-invasively impart propagating shear waves into the vitreous.
Spatial-temporal images of the corresponding wave field were acquired at 4.7T
using a custom spin echo pulse sequence. Viscoelastic material parameters
were extracted from the displacement field by a least-squares inversion
method. Results show that MRE of the mouse vitreous is feasible, and suggest
that MRE may be applicable to diagnosis of ocular disease.