Assessment of cardiac function and myocardial morphology using small animal Look-Locker inversion recovery (SALLI) MRI in rats.

Small animal magnetic resonance imaging is an important tool to study cardiac function and changes in myocardial tissue. The high heart rates of small animals (200 to 600 beats/min) have previously limited the role of CMR imaging. Small animal Look-Locker inversion recovery (SALLI) is a T1 mapping sequence for small animals to overcome this problem. T1 maps provide quantitative information about tissue alterations and contrast agent kinetics. It is also possible to detect diffuse myocardial processes such as interstitial fibrosis or edema. Furthermore, from a single set of image data, it is possible to examine heart function and myocardial scarring by generating cine and inversion recovery-prepared late gadolinium enhancement-type MR images. The presented video shows step-by-step the procedures to perform small animal CMR imaging. Here it is presented with a healthy Sprague-Dawley rat, however naturally it can be extended to different cardiac small animal models.