Diffusion tensor imaging of mouse brain stem and cervical spinal cord

In vivo diffusion tensor imaging measurements of the mouse brain stem and cervical spinal cord are presented. Utilizing actively decoupled transmit/receive coils, high resolution diffusion images (117 μm × 59 μm × 500 μm) were acquired at 4.7 T within an hour. Both brain stem and cervical spine displayed clear gray-white matter contrast. The cervical spinal cord white matter showed similar tissue characteristics as seen in the thoracic cord. The coherent fiber orientation in the white matter was observed in both the brain stem and the cervical spinal cord. The results may serve as a reference for future inter-lab comparison in mouse brain stem and cervical spine diffusion measurements.