Lindsey A. Crowe1, Eline A. Vermeij2, Marije I. Koenders2, Fons A J van de Loo2, Frank Tobalem1, Thomas Goget1, Azza Gramoun1, Wim B. Van den Berg2, Jean-Paul Valle<s
1Faculty of Medicine/Department of Radiology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; 2Rheumatology Research and Advanced Therapeutics, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmengen, Netherlands
We investigate a MultiPaw imaging protocol for optimizing small sample scanning at high-resolution in a clinical MRI. An antigen induced mono-arthritis model in mouse knees with/without intra-venous or intra-articular SPION injection is presented to show the diagnostic potential. Pre-clinical studies may use clinical MRI systems due to translational possibilities and availability of the technology. For small sample sizes, an adapted coil to give high signal intensity is needed, though the initial obvious choice of the smallest coil may not be the best. Signal-to-noise is optimized with small, adapted coils, but a longer scan using a larger coil with greater signal homogeneity can be efficient.