Stelios Angeli1,
Nicholas Befera2, Gary Cofer2, G. Allan Johnson2,
Christakis Constantinides1
1University
of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus; 2Radiology, Duke University Medical Center,
Durham, NC, United States
The unique myocardial architecture, comprised of oriented laminar sheets and helical spiral tracts of fibers, accounts for its efficient contractile and torsional mechanical function. The inherent structural-functional associations of the heart also underline the potential significance of fiber tractography in remodeling or cellular disarray, following early, or late pathological states. Diffusion MRI tractography can provide 3-dimensional (3D) mapping of the myofiber structure . This study employs 3D, microscopic, spin-echo, diffusion-weighted MRI to construct a fiber atlas of the ex-vivo, fixed, C57BL/6 murine heart.