MEASUREMENT OF CRYOPROTECTIVE SOLVENT PENETRATION INTO INTACT ORGAN-TISSUES USING HIGH-FIELD NMR MICROIMAGING

Existing methods are not able to monitor accurately the penetration of cryoprotective solvents (CPS) into intact tissues. In this study, NMR imaging is shown to be a noninvasive nondestructive way to measure pe netration rates and effective diffusion coefficients of Me2SO into sam ples of rat kidney and rat liver tissues. This new method is unique in that the measurements obtained are not averaged over the entire tissu e volume but may be made at any site in the tissue. Measurements of pe netration rates yield values which are similar to literature values, a nd the effective diffusion coefficients fall within the expected range . The images also suggest an explanation of why CPSs fail to completel y protect organs from freezing damage. (C) 1997 Academic Press.