REVIEW High field magnetic resonance imaging of rodents in cardiovascular research Laetitia Vanhoutte 1,2 • Bernhard L. Gerber 3,4 • Bernard Gallez 5 • Chrystelle Po 6 • Julie Magat 7 • Balligand Jean-Luc 2 • Olivier Feron 2 • Ste ´phane Moniotte 1 Received: 27 July 2015 / Accepted: 1 June 2016 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Abstract Transgenic and gene knockout rodent models are primordial to study pathophysiological processes in car- diovascular research. Over time, cardiac MRI has become a gold standard for in vivo evaluation of such models. Technical advances have led to the development of mag- nets with increasingly high field strength, allowing specific investigation of cardiac anatomy, global and regional function, viability, perfusion or vascular parameters. The aim of this report is to provide a review of the various sequences and techniques available to image mice on 7–11.7 T magnets and relevant to the clinical setting in humans. Specific technical aspects due to the rise of the magnetic field are also discussed. Keywords High field Á MRI Á Cardiovascular diseases Á Mouse Abbreviations ASL Arterial spin labeling CEST Chemical exchange saturation transfer CS Compressed sensing CT Computed tomography DENSE Displacement encoding with stimulated echoes FLASH Fast low angle shot FPP First pass perfusion IR Inversion recovery LGE Late gadolinium enhancement MBF Myocardial blood flow MEMRI Manganese-enhance magnetic resonance imaging MRA Magnetic resonance angiography MRS Magnetic resonance spectroscopy MRSI Magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging PET Positron emission tomography PC Phase contrast RF Radiofrequency SNR Signal-to-noise ratio SPIONs Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles TOF Time of flight HF High field Venc Velocity encoding Introduction Transgenic and knockout mice models are currently fun- damental tools to study pathophysiological processes and therapeutic interventions in cardiovascular research. In recent years, high field (HF) MRI has evolved to become & Laetitia Vanhoutte laetitia.vanhoutte@uclouvain.be 1 Department of Paediatric Cardiology, Cliniques universitaires Saint Luc, Universite ´ Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium 2 Pole of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (FATH), Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research (IREC), Universite ´ Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium 3 Division of Cardiology, Cliniques universitaires Saint Luc, Universite ´ Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium 4 Pole of Cardiovascular Research (CARD), Institute of Experimental and Clinical Research (IREC), Universite ´ Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium 5 Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Unit (REMA), Louvain Drug Research Institute (LDRI), Universite ´ Catholique de Louvain (UCL), Brussels, Belgium 6 CNRS, ICube, FMTS, Institut de Physique Biologique, Faculte ´ de Me ´decine, Universite ´ de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France 7 L’Institut de RYthmologie et de Mode ´lisation Cardiaque (LIRYC), Inserm U1045, Bordeaux, France 123 Basic Res Cardiol (2016)111:46 DOI 10.1007/s00395-016-0565-2