MR Microscopy and Histology
Magnet Resonance Microscopy (MRM) is an ideal complement to conventional histology.
It is:
• Non-Destructive. Follow-on histology is possible.
• Contextual. View areas of interest in context with the entire organ, system, or animal.
• Rapid. View at your desktop with rapid turn around. Quickly scan thousands of virtual slides.
• Quantitative. Measure changes in anatomy or pathology, without dehydration or physical distortion.
• “Virtual Stains” Many options for image contrast
• Inherently Three Dimensional. Digitally slice at any angle.
MR Histology can be a decision making tool to guide drug discovery efforts with more information and fewer animals. It can also be a screening tool to determine where to perform conventional histology. We can pinpoint anomalies and lesions with a 3D diagram for the histologist so that the pathologist can diagnose in 3D and via glass slide.
a) The 7.0T Magnex magnet has been installed in a special purpose room to isolate it and provide a safety buffer; b) High power electronics are installed in a separate adjacent room with separate temperature control. c) The scanner console is located in a separate room with a safety glass view into the magnet room allowing the operator isolation from the gradient noise.
Histology image courtesy of Maronpot, NIEHS, NC |
Cost Savings: The digital nature of MRH allows increased pathologist efficiency. A first pass screen over a thousand slices can be done in the same time it takes to look at a few glass slides. The large number of slices, enables broader analysis per animal, thus enabling studies to use fewer animals. This is especially important for phenotype studies on expensive knock-out mice. A single MR scan can cost significantly less than the equivalent histopathology. |
Other benefits:
Volumetric measurements- Studies have shown differences in brain structure size from toxicologic effects that are not apparent using conventional histology (Fridmann NIEHS, NC)
Comprehensive Tissue Coverage- Lesions were found in the superior colliculus that previously had not been detected with the standard toxicology procedure for optical histology sections of the brain (Sills, NIEHS, NC)
Contextual Information- MR whole body histology enables a review in context. You can see that a distended bladder is putting pressure on the prostate. All the data is there for the pathologist to view, combining the information provided by gross pictures, necropsy notes, and histology slides.
In other words:
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