Xiaodong Zhong1,
Lauren B. Gibberman2, Andrew D. Gilliam3, Craig H.
Meyer2,4, Brent A. French4, Frederick H. Epstein2,4
1MR R&D
Collaborations, Siemens Healthcare, Atlanta, GA, USA; 2Radiology Department,
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA; 3Andrew D.
Gilliam Consulting, Providence, RI, USA; 4Biomedical Engineering
Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
MRI of myocardial mechanics in mice enables the investigation of the roles of individual genes and experimental therapies in cardiac function. While two-dimensional tagging, HARP, and DENSE have previously been demonstrated in the mouse heart, myocardial mechanics are more comprehensively assessed using three-dimensional (3D) methods. In this study, 3D cine DENSE acquisition and analysis methods for mice imaging were developed, and were evaluated in normal mice. A comprehensive assessment of 3D myocardial mechanics in mice can be performed with a scan time of less than 25 minutes and a segmentation time of about an hour, followed by automatic post-processing.