Functional MRI-Phantoms

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a very versatile method and indispensable in modern medicine. The development of new instruments is paralleled by the development of new measuring techniques and methods. These new techniques are often times validated using animals prior to human application. Such developments and validations can be very incriminatory and can finally led to the death of the animal. With the help of the MRI-compatible bioreactor developed by the KIT for the organotypic culture of human and animal cells (Fig. 1) those method developments and validations can, in principal, replace animal trials and can be done in microcavity arrays that are cultured in this bioreactor.

Fig. 1: Left: MRI-compatible bioreactor for the development of functional MRI-Phantoms. Right: Distribution of contrast agent over time during perfusion from below (bioreactor cross section).