Biophysics: in vivo MR Imaging & Spectroscopy
MR studies from Cellular to Organismic function
Comprehensive and comparative studies of adaptational physiology of living organisms require a set of methods that are suitable to bridge molecular, cellular and whole organism approaches. Non-invasive MR technology enables such integrative analyses through non-invasive multiparameter studies from cellular to whole organism levels. These range from spectroscopic analyses of cellular mechanisms of ion, acid-base and metabolic regulation to online measurements of ventilation, cardiocirculatory activity, systemic and microvascular blood flow in the living animal during various functional states.
Multi-parameter MR studies on Antarctic fishes can be performed non-invasively under well defined physiological conditions on a long term scale up to several days in our MR scanner. The animals are sitting in small aquarium tanks continuously perfused with sea water, where they can freely move around. Usually, polar fishes are quite inactive, special adapted MR techniques can compensate for any movement artefacts by the animal.
for more info see also: www.awi.de/en/focus/ocean-acidification/a-view-inside-a-fish-in-nmr.html
