In Vivo Myelin Water Imaging in Rat Spinal Cord

Piotr Kozlowski^1,2, Andrew C. Yung¹, Henry S. Chen¹, Jie Liu², Wolfram Tetzlaff²

Myelin water imaging was carried out in rat spinal cord in vivo. CPMG data were acquired from 6 rats with 117 microns in-plane resolution and 1.5 mm slice thickness. The implantable coil system, consisting of a rectangular loop surgically implanted over the lumbar spine and inductively coupled to an external pick up coil, was used for both pulse transmission and signal reception. B1 field produced by a small implanted coil is sufficiently uniform to acquire good quality CPMG data. All reconstructed MWF maps showed good details of the cord morphology. This pilot study demonstrates feasibility of the high resolution myelin water imaging in rat spinal cord in vivo.