Magnetic Resonance Microscopy of Chemically Fixed Human Embryos Performed in University of Tsukuba Since 1999 to 2015

Abstract

Magnetic resonance (MR) microscopy of chemically fixed human embryos performed in University of Tsukuba since 1999 to 2015 was reviewed. More than 1,000 chemically fixed human embryos stored in the Congenital Anomaly Research Center of Kyoto University were used throughout the MR microscopy project, which was divided into three terms. In the first term (1999–2005), 3D MR images of 1,204 embryo specimens were acquired with 128 × 128 × 256 voxels by a super-parallel MR microscope using a 2.35 T horizontal-bore superconducting magnet. In the second term (2005–2006), 3D MR images of seven embryo specimens were acquired with 256 × 256 × 512 voxels by an MR microscope using a 9.4 T vertical wide-bore superconducting magnet. In the third term (2013–2015), 3D MR images of a Carnegie Stage (CS) 21 specimen were acquired with 512 × 512 × 1024 voxels by an MR microscope using a 4.7 T vertical wide-bore superconducting magnet and nuclear magnetic resonance parameters of a CS23 specimen were measured with 128 × 128 × 256–256 × 256 × 512 voxels by an MR microscope using a 9.4 T vertical narrow-bore superconducting magnet. Based on the results obtained in this project, the author has proposed the future MR microscopy project in which a number of embryo specimens will be imaged with 256 × 256 × 512–512 × 512 × 1024 voxels using a newly designed super-parallel MR microscope. Anat Rec, 301:987–997, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.