Magnetic resonance microscopy in cardiac development

can analyze the three-dimensional structure of the embryonic heart both qua litatively and quantitatively. Intravascular contrast agents have been deve loped to accentuate the anatomy of cardiac chambers, the cardiac outflow tr act, and major arteries and veins throughout the embryonic body. MRM genera tes non-distorted three-dimensional data of vascular anatomy in a fraction of the time required by conventional optical image reconstruction technique s. The three-dimensional nature of these data allows the creation of visual models that can be manipulated for fast and easy interpretation of the com plex relationships between heart chambers and aortic arches. This is partic ularly helpful because these relationships change in complex ways during de velopment. The non-destructive nature of MRM makes it well suited for inves tigating rare or valuable specimens and live subjects. MRM techniques have been developed for imaging the embryo in utero and in vitro, although MRM s tudies of fixed embryo specimens are easier to perform and produce data wit h better contrast and higher resolution. Microsc. Res. Tech. 52: 323-330, 2 001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.