Imaging of thorax and diaphragm movement in mechanically ventilated mice and rats

Motivation: The pathophysiology of diaphragm dysfunction in mechanically ventilated patients is not fully understood and adequate animal models are required to accommodate further research. Goal(s): Our goal was to develop a method to image 3D thoracic movement during mechanical ventilation of mice and rats at different pressure levels of mechanical ventilation. Approach: With our setup we visualized the movement of the thorax in mice and rats using self-gated 3D pseudo-radial k-space sampling. Results: Imaging was feasible in both animal types and increase of pressure resulted in a decrease of mean diaphragm excursion of 0.9 and 1.3 mm in mouse and rat respectively. Impact: Our proposed setup allows controlled mechanical ventilation and MR imaging of 3D thorax movement in mice and rats. This can be used to study the pathophysiology behind mechanical ventilation-induced respiratory muscle dysfunction, and ultimately guiding clinical practice in respiratory care.