SAMMI - Small Animal MRI/MRS Instrument

The use of small animal models for the study of normal development, of progression of human disease, and of treatment of human disease, has become widespread in the scientific community. Traditional approaches to anatomical and physiological monitoring often rely on pathology on animals sacrificed periodically during a study. However, in many cases analysis after sacrifice may not be the best choice. Fixed tissues prepared from euthanized animals may not accurately reflect metabolic states or transient interactions that are present in tissues of live animals. In addition, many animals need to be observed at each time point of a longitudinal study to reduce the effects of population variations.

The alternative is in vivo imaging and spectroscopy of single animals using techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). This can both improve the quality of data and reduce numbers of animals used.

Funding from the National Center for Research Resources and the Georgia Research Alliance has allowed installation of a small animal imaging and spectroscopy system in the BioImaging Research Center (BIRC) in the Coverdell Building at the University of Georgia. It provides MRI and MRS resources to UGA researchers and their collaborators. The system is based on a 7 Tesla, 210 mm, horizontal bore magnet, and is suitable for studies of mice, rats, and animals of similar size.