1. BioSpec/PharmaScan
2. AVANCE III HD / ParaVision 6.x ff
3. Coil Specific Information
4. Z151182/Z141002/Z154910
5. Operation
6. Animal Setup

Animal Setup

NOTE

All animal experiments must be performed according to local regulations and approved by local animal care institutions.

The MRI CryoProbe™ setup includes a dedicated animal cradle which is optimized for the use with the Centering Tube. It includes a temperature stabilization unit (water tubes which can be connected to an external water reservoir), a nose cone for administration of gaseous anesthesia (see Figure Recommended setup (1) with tooth bar (2), and ear pins (3) for stereotactic fixation.

We recommend monitoring and stabilizing the animal body temperature not only during the experiment, but also during the setup. A mouse under hypothermic conditions (decreased body temperature) may start gasping, a motion, which could disturb the image quality dramatically and which is sometimes hard to eliminate even with respiratory triggering due to its non-periodic appearance.

If you are using gaseous anesthesia we recommend pulling the animal’s nose with the tooth bar into the cone to fixate the frontal part of the mouse head. Additionally, the stereotactic fixation should be used by carefully pushing the ear pins into the external auditory canal of the mouse (see Figure Recommended setup (3).

Alternatively, the animal head may be fixated with tape, which must be wrapped tightly around the mouse head (see the following figures). Keep in mind that for the experiment the final position of the mouse head should be as close as possible to the surface of the coil.

NOTICE

Disconnect the rear part of the tooth bar before moving the animal cradle into the magnet to avoid any harm to the animal.

NOTE

Before moving the animal cradle into the magnet, check the correct animal position by inserting the animal cradle into the mouse position gauge. The coil center is marked with a cross.

NOTE

When using tape for animal fixation it may block the insertion of the bed into the coil housing. Before entering the magnet check for any blocking by inserting the animal bed into the mouse position gauge.