Publication Date:
2012-12-01
Description:
Background Magnetic resonance imaging is a noninvasive method of evaluating embryonic development. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), based on the directional diffusivity of water molecules, is an established method of evaluating tissue structure. Yet embryonic motion degrades the in vivo acquisition of long-duration DTI. We used a dual-cooling technique to avoid motion artifact and aimed to investigate whether DTI can be used to monitor chick embryonic skeletal muscle development in ovo, and to investigate the correlation between quantitative DTI parameters fractional anisotropy (FA) and fiber length and quantitative histologic parameters fiber area percentage (FiberArea%) and limb length. Results From 84 normally developing chick embryos, 5 were randomly chosen each day from incubation days 5 to 18 and scanned using 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging. A dual-cooling technique is used before and during imaging. Eggs were cracked for making histological specimen after imaging. 3 eggs were serially imaged from days 5 to 18. We show that skeletal muscle fibers can be tracked in hind limb in DTI beginning with incubation day 8. Our data shows a good positive correlation between quantitative DTI and histologic parameters (FA vs FiberArea%: r= 0.943, p
Electronic ISSN:
1471-213X
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Permalink