TY - JOUR
T1 - In vivo microelectrode track reconstruction using magnetic resonance imaging
AU - Fung, S. H.
AU - Burstein, D.
AU - Born, R. T.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful for advice on histological techniques from Vladimir Berezovskii and for a thoughtful review of the manuscript by David Hubel, Margaret Livingstone, and Elio Raviola. James George provided valuable information on transition metal chemistry. This work was supported by NIH EY11379 (RTB) and a grant from the Milton Fund (RTB).
PY - 1998/4/30
Y1 - 1998/4/30
N2 - To obtain more precise anatomical information about cortical sites of microelectrode recording and microstimulation experiments in alert animals, we have developed a non-invasive, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for reconstructing microelectrode tracks. We made microelectrode penetrations in the brains of anesthetized rats and marked sites along them by depositing metal, presumably iron, with anodic monophasic or biphasic current from the tip of a stainless steel microelectrode. The metal deposits were clearly visible in the living animal as approximately 200 μm wide hypointense punctate marks using gradient echo sequences in a 4.7T MRI scanner. We confirmed the MRI findings by comparing them directly to the postmortem histology in which the iron in the deposits could be rendered visible with a Prussian blue reaction. MRI-visible marks could be created using currents as low as 1 μA (anodic) for 5 s, and they remained stable in the brains of living rats for up to nine months. We were able to make marks using either direct current or biphasic current pulses. Biphasic pulses caused less tissue damage and were similar to those used by many laboratories for functional microstimulation studies in the brains of alert monkeys.
AB - To obtain more precise anatomical information about cortical sites of microelectrode recording and microstimulation experiments in alert animals, we have developed a non-invasive, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for reconstructing microelectrode tracks. We made microelectrode penetrations in the brains of anesthetized rats and marked sites along them by depositing metal, presumably iron, with anodic monophasic or biphasic current from the tip of a stainless steel microelectrode. The metal deposits were clearly visible in the living animal as approximately 200 μm wide hypointense punctate marks using gradient echo sequences in a 4.7T MRI scanner. We confirmed the MRI findings by comparing them directly to the postmortem histology in which the iron in the deposits could be rendered visible with a Prussian blue reaction. MRI-visible marks could be created using currents as low as 1 μA (anodic) for 5 s, and they remained stable in the brains of living rats for up to nine months. We were able to make marks using either direct current or biphasic current pulses. Biphasic pulses caused less tissue damage and were similar to those used by many laboratories for functional microstimulation studies in the brains of alert monkeys.
KW - Alert animals
KW - Chronic electrophysiology
KW - Cortical mapping
KW - Functional architecture
KW - Magnetic resonance imaging
KW - Microstimulation
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U2 - 10.1016/S0165-0270(98)00003-X
DO - 10.1016/S0165-0270(98)00003-X
M3 - Article
C2 - 9667395
AN - SCOPUS:0032580231
VL - 80
SP - 215
EP - 224
JO - Journal of Neuroscience Methods
JF - Journal of Neuroscience Methods
SN - 0165-0270
IS - 2
ER -