In vivo three-dimensional magnetic resonance microscopy of pulmonary solitary tumors in transgenic mice

We attempted to accurately detect pulmonary solitary tumors and other complicated pulmonary disorders in aging inbred transgenic mice by cardiac- and respiratory-gated MR microscopy at 4.7 Tesla. A comparison of in vivo MR images with histological results demonstrated that submillimeter lung tumors and most of the nontumor lesions could be detected by screening with two-dimensional (2D) gradient echo (GRE) imaging. Subsequently performed 2D spin-echo (SE) imaging provided higher image contrast, which distinguished the tumors from the surrounding complications. On the 3D GRE images and the generated maximum intensity projection (MIP) and volume- rendered (VR) images, proper spatial localization of solitary tumors relative to the orientation of the pulmonary vessels was exhibited, and the tumor volume could also be measured. This promising method is noninvasive and has the potential to eventually replace invasive histopathology because it obviates the need to kill groups of animals at multiple time points.