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A device for MR imaging of atherosclerosis plaque in carotid endarterectomy specimens ex vivo.

A portable pulse generation NMR device was developed to place human biological samples or agriproducts for NMR experiments. Using the same principle, a device was designed for acquiring high spatial and contrast resolution images of human carotid arteries in vivo using a GE Horizon LX 1.5T scanner equipped with a 6 cm phased array coil. Vessels withÀ70z occlusion are often revascularized by endarterectomy, a surgical procedure that ``shells out'' the occluding atherosclerotic tissue (diseased intima and some media) leaving behind some media and the outermost adventitia layers. Correct interpretation of atherosclerotic carotid artery MR images acquired in vivo requires precise correlation of MR images acquired ex vivo with histologic images acquired in situ. For this reason, it was essential to design, construct, and evaluate a device for holding the endarterectomy specimens in geometry and at a temperature that resembles physiological conditions. Moreover, in clinical imaging, loss of signal intensity is a common problem to cause determination impossible for severity of stenosis. In the present study, the primary objective was to develop a device for holding carotid endarterectomy specimens during ex vivo MR imaging under conditions that closely simulate those used in vivo. This device was used to hold carotid artery specimens and MR imaging: 1) to determine the area and volume of the lumen wall and plaque of the endarterectomy specimens. 2) to determine relaxation parameters of microdissected regions of specimens and excised plaque contents with reference to pure chemicals resembling those in intact tissues. A holder was used with following speciˆc dimensions to place device at right location in side the MR imager. Another objective was to standardize a method to calculate plaque volume on in vivo MR images. The method was based on slice-thickness, carotid plaque-rich segment length, carotid artery radii at maximum and minimum wall thickness. Present study presents the preliminary results on the utility of this device.