Unveiling the Exquisite Microstructural Details in Zebrafish Brain Non-Invasively Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 28.2 T
Unveiling the Exquisite Microstructural Details in Zebrafish Brain Non-Invasively Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging at 28.2 T
Blog Article
Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an important animal model for a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases.However, obtaining the cellular resolution that is essential for studying the zebrafish brain remains challenging as it requires high spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR).In the current study, we present the first MRI results of the zebrafish brain at the state-of-the-art magnetic field strength of 28.2 T.
The performance of MRI at 28.2 T was compared to 17.6 T.A 20% improvement in SNR was observed at 28.
2 T as compared to 17.6 T.Excellent contrast, resolution, and SNR allowed the identification of several brain structures.The normative T1 and T2 relaxation values were established over different zebrafish brain structures at 28.
2 T.To zoom into the white matter structures, we applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) here and obtained axial, radial, and mean diffusivity, as well as fractional anisotropy, at a very high spatial resolution.Visualisation of white matter structures was achieved by short-track track-density imaging by applying the constrained spherical deconvolution method (stTDI CSD).For the first time, an algorithm for stTDI with multi-shell multi-tissue (msmt) CSD was tested on zebrafish brain data.
A significant reduction in false-positive tracks from grey matter signals was observed compared to stTDI with single-shell single-tissue (ssst) CSD.This allowed the non-invasive identification of white matter structures at high resolution and contrast.Our results show that ultra-high field DTI and tractography provide reproducible and quantitative maps of fibre organisation from tiny zebrafish brains, which can be implemented in the future crystal beaded candle holder for a mechanistic understanding of disease-related microstructural changes in zebrafish models of various brain diseases.