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Schreiber LM, Lohr D, Baltes S, Vogel U, Elabyad IA, Bille M, Reiter T, Kosmala A, Gassenmaier T, Stefanescu MR, Kollmann A, Aures J, Schnitter F, Pali M, Ueda Y, Williams T, Christa M, Hofmann U, Bauer W, Gerull B, Zernecke A, Ergün S, Terekhov M. Ultra-high field cardiac MRI in large animals and humans for translational cardiovascular research. Front Cardiovasc Med 2023; 10:1068390. [PMID: 37255709 PMCID: PMC10225557 DOI: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1068390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
A key step in translational cardiovascular research is the use of large animal models to better understand normal and abnormal physiology, to test drugs or interventions, or to perform studies which would be considered unethical in human subjects. Ultrahigh field magnetic resonance imaging (UHF-MRI) at 7 T field strength is becoming increasingly available for imaging of the heart and, when compared to clinically established field strengths, promises better image quality and image information content, more precise functional analysis, potentially new image contrasts, and as all in-vivo imaging techniques, a reduction of the number of animals per study because of the possibility to scan every animal repeatedly. We present here a solution to the dual use problem of whole-body UHF-MRI systems, which are typically installed in clinical environments, to both UHF-MRI in large animals and humans. Moreover, we provide evidence that in such a research infrastructure UHF-MRI, and ideally combined with a standard small-bore UHF-MRI system, can contribute to a variety of spatial scales in translational cardiovascular research: from cardiac organoids, Zebra fish and rodent hearts to large animal models such as pigs and humans. We present pilot data from serial CINE, late gadolinium enhancement, and susceptibility weighted UHF-MRI in a myocardial infarction model over eight weeks. In 14 pigs which were delivered from a breeding facility in a national SARS-CoV-2 hotspot, we found no infection in the incoming pigs. Human scanning using CINE and phase contrast flow measurements provided good image quality of the left and right ventricle. Agreement of functional analysis between CINE and phase contrast MRI was excellent. MRI in arrested hearts or excised vascular tissue for MRI-based histologic imaging, structural imaging of myofiber and vascular smooth muscle cell architecture using high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging, and UHF-MRI for monitoring free radicals as a surrogate for MRI of reactive oxygen species in studies of oxidative stress are demonstrated. We conclude that UHF-MRI has the potential to become an important precision imaging modality in translational cardiovascular research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M. Schreiber
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - David Lohr
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Steffen Baltes
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Ulrich Vogel
- Institute for Hygiene and Microbiology, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Ibrahim A. Elabyad
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Maya Bille
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Theresa Reiter
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine I/Cardiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Aleksander Kosmala
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
- Department of Radiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Tobias Gassenmaier
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
- Department of Radiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Maria R. Stefanescu
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Alena Kollmann
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Julia Aures
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Florian Schnitter
- Department of Internal Medicine I/Cardiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Mihaela Pali
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Yuichiro Ueda
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Julius-Maximilians-University, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Tatiana Williams
- Department of Cardiovascular Genetics, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Martin Christa
- Department of Internal Medicine I/Cardiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Ulrich Hofmann
- Department of Internal Medicine I/Cardiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Bauer
- Department of Internal Medicine I/Cardiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Brenda Gerull
- Department of Internal Medicine I/Cardiology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
- Department of Cardiovascular Genetics, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Alma Zernecke
- Institute of Experimental Biomedicine, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Süleyman Ergün
- Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Julius-Maximilians-University, Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Maxim Terekhov
- Department of Cardiovascular Imaging and Chair of Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Comprehensive Heart Failure Center Wuerzburg (CHFC), University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Germany
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Hopman LH, Hillier E, Liu Y, Hamilton J, Fischer K, Seiberlich N, Friedrich MG. Dynamic Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting During Vasoactive Breathing Maneuvers: First Results. J Cardiovasc Imaging 2023; 31:71-82. [PMID: 37096671 PMCID: PMC10133810 DOI: 10.4250/jcvi.2022.0080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cardiac magnetic resonance fingerprinting (cMRF) enables simultaneous mapping of myocardial T1 and T2 with very short acquisition times. Breathing maneuvers have been utilized as a vasoactive stress test to dynamically characterize myocardial tissue in vivo. We tested the feasibility of sequential, rapid cMRF acquisitions during breathing maneuvers to quantify myocardial T1 and T2 changes. METHODS We measured T1 and T2 values using conventional T1 and T2-mapping techniques (modified look locker inversion [MOLLI] and T2-prepared balanced-steady state free precession), and a 15 heartbeat (15-hb) and rapid 5-hb cMRF sequence in a phantom and in 9 healthy volunteers. The cMRF5-hb sequence was also used to dynamically assess T1 and T2 changes over the course of a vasoactive combined breathing maneuver. RESULTS In healthy volunteers, the mean myocardial T1 of the different mapping methodologies were: MOLLI 1,224 ± 81 ms, cMRF15-hb 1,359 ± 97 ms, and cMRF5-hb 1,357 ± 76 ms. The mean myocardial T2 measured with the conventional mapping technique was 41.7 ± 6.7 ms, while for cMRF15-hb 29.6 ± 5.8 ms and cMRF5-hb 30.5 ± 5.8 ms. T2 was reduced with vasoconstriction (post-hyperventilation compared to a baseline resting state) (30.15 ± 1.53 ms vs. 27.99 ± 2.07 ms, p = 0.02), while T1 did not change with hyperventilation. During the vasodilatory breath-hold, no significant change of myocardial T1 and T2 was observed. CONCLUSIONS cMRF5-hb enables simultaneous mapping of myocardial T1 and T2, and may be used to track dynamic changes of myocardial T1 and T2 during vasoactive combined breathing maneuvers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luuk H.G.A. Hopman
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Department of Cardiology, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Elizabeth Hillier
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Yuchi Liu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Jesse Hamilton
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Kady Fischer
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Nicole Seiberlich
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
- Department of Radiology, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Matthias G. Friedrich
- Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Departments of Cardiology and Diagnostic Radiology, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, QC, Canada
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