ultiscale structural analysis of mouse lingual yoarchitecture employing diffusion spectrum magnetic esonance imaging and multiphoton microscopy

erry A. Gaige yuk Sang Kwon uangping Dai ictor C. Cabral uopeng Wang oon Sung Nam evin P. Engelward an J Wedeen eter T. C. So ichard J. Gilbert assachusetts Institute of Technology epartment of Mechanical and Biological Engineering ambridge, Massachusetts 02139 and assachusetts General Hospital thinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging harlestown, Massachusetts 02129 Abstract. The tongue consists of a complex, multiscale array of myofibers that comprise the anatomical underpinning of lingual mechanical function. 3-D myoarchitecture was imaged in mouse tongues with diffusion spectrum magnetic resonance imaging DSI at 9.4 T bmax 7000 s/mm, 150m isotropic voxels , a method that derives the preferential diffusion of water/voxel, and high-throughput 10 fps two-photon microscope TPM . Net fiber alignment was represented for each method in terms of the local maxima of an orientational distribution function ODF derived from the local diffusion DSI and 3-D structural autocorrelation TPM , respectively. Mesoscale myofiber tracts were generated by alignment of the principal orientation vectors of the ODFs. These data revealed a consistent relationship between the properties of the respective ODFs and the virtual superimposition of the distributed mesoscale myofiber tracts. The identification of a mesoscale anatomical construct, which specifically links the microscopic and macroscopic spatial scales, provides a method for relating the orientation and distribution of cells and subcellular components with overall tissue morphology, thus contributing to the development of multiscale methods for mechanical analysis. © 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. DOI: 10.1117/1.3046724