Considerations and recommendations from the ISMRM diffusion study group for preclinical diffusion MRI: Part 2-Ex vivo...

Area of Science:

• Preclinical research
• Neuroscience
• Biomedical imaging

Background:

• Diffusion MRI (dMRI) is valuable for in vivo tissue characterization.
• Ex vivo dMRI offers advantages like higher SNR, spatial resolution, and direct comparison with histology.
• Performing ex vivo dMRI requires careful consideration of tissue preparation, acquisition, and processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide best practices and guidelines for ex vivo diffusion MRI (dMRI) in preclinical settings.
• To highlight the advantages and considerations specific to ex vivo dMRI experiments.
• To enhance the rigor and reproducibility of ex vivo dMRI acquisitions and analyses.

Main Methods:

• Review and synthesis of existing knowledge and practices for ex vivo dMRI.
• Discussion of specimen differences and model appropriateness for studies.
• Guidelines for ex vivo protocols including tissue fixation, sample preparation, and MR scanning.

Main Results:

• Identification of experimental advantages of ex vivo dMRI, including higher SNR and resolution.
• Detailed considerations for tissue preparation, image acquisition, and data interpretation.
• Highlighting areas lacking established guidelines and suggesting future research directions.

Conclusions:

• Ex vivo dMRI is a powerful tool for probing tissue microstructure and brain connectivity.
• Standardized best practices are crucial for advancing biomedical knowledge through reproducible ex vivo dMRI.
• Further research is needed to address existing gaps in ex vivo dMRI methodology.