Abstract
Non-invasive imaging of embryonic development has been an ultimate goal for embryologists for many years. Due to advances in MRI hardware and software, the extremely high spatial resolution necessary to study embryos can now be obtained. Fixed embryos can be scanned to visualize the complex 3D morphology of the developing embryo in great detail, sometimes referred to as MR histology. As the sample remains intact, it is a suitable tool for the study of rare specimens, or for screening of huge numbers of transgenic embryos. In vivo MRI can be used for time course studies of either normal development or the progression of congenital malformations.
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank Arno Nauerth for adapting the retrospective gating technique to embryonic applications, Kees Erkelens, Fons LeFeber and Linda van der Graaf for technical assistance, Jan Lens for preparing the figures and Robert Poelmann and Louise van der Weerd for their suggestions regarding the manuscript.
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Hogers, B. (2011). MRI to Study Embryonic Development. In: Schröder, L., Faber, C. (eds) In vivo NMR Imaging. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 771. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-219-9_30
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-61779-219-9_30
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