Babette Wagenhaus1, Andreas Pohlmann1, Matthias Alexander Dieringer1, 2, Thoralf Niendorf1, 2
1Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility, Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany; 2Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), Charit Campus Buch, Humboldt-University, Berlin, Germany
Rapid phenotyping, assessment of gender effects and evaluation of novel therapeutics in longitudinal studies using high spatial resolution cardiac MRI (CMR) is of increasing interest for a variety of mouse models of cardiovascular diseases. SNR constraints can be offset by use of a cryogenic RF probe. This study examines the feasibility and potential benefit of high spatial resolution functional cardiac MRI employing a cryogenic transceive RF surface coil compared to a conventional mouse heart receiver array/body resonator combination. Our results suggest that use of a cryogenic coil could not only improve the accuracy of left ventricular function and morphology assessment, but also affords chamber quantification of the right ventricle.