Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain of bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus)

Three specimen of the brain of adult camels were collected from the Minqin county Gansu China after slaughtering these animals by exsanguination in the local slaughterhouse and procedures described by Xie (1987) and Xie (2006) were followed. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed at Ractiodiagnostic Service Centre of the Hospital of the Jinyuan Coal Corporation (Changzheng Canau, China) using a superconducting magnet operating at a field strength of 1.5 T (GE Signa Echospeed 1.5 T Testa MRI Scanner, General Electric Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI, USA). MR images were obtained in sagittal, transverse and horizontal planes with spin echo sequence. T1-weighted MR images were acquired using the following parameters: repetition time (T-R) = 200 ms, echo time (T-E) = 20 ms, 256 x 128 matrix, 1.0 cm slice thickness with I nun interstice spacing. For the T2-weighted MR images, the T-R was 4000 ms, T-E was 130 ms, 256 x 216 matrix, 1.0 cm slice thickness with 1 mm interslice spacing. MRI T1-weighted image provided excellent anatomic description of the brain and associated structures. The brain structures (myelencephalon, pons, cerebellar vermis, cerebellar hemisphere, mesencephalon, cerebral hemisphere, thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, pituitary gland, pineal body, fornix, etc.) had an intermediate signal intensity and appeared grey. The cortical grey matter was hypointense compared to white matter. The encephalic ventricular system had a reduced signal intensity. On the T2-weighted images, the brain appeared dark and images were somewhat grainy. White matter of the brain appeared grey than the surrounding grey matter, and there was excellent tissue contrast. The lateral ventricle, 3(rd) ventricle, 4(th) ventricle and mesencephalic aqueduct had in intermediate signal intensity and appeared Much darker.