Data Processing in Studying the Growth of Early Spruce Embryos, Using MR Imaging Techniques

The technique of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) can be used to determine the number of hydrogen nuclei in biological tissues or when monitoring the growth of tissue culture. To assess the growth rate, the increase in the content of proton nuclei, and the shape of clusters of early growing somatic embryos, examinations were conducted using the MR techniques [1]. The measurements were part of research aimed at verifying the hypothesis of increased water content during the growth of tissue culture contaminated with cadmium. The culture to be measured was placed in the working space of a tomograph and a suitable direction of the slice plane was chosen, in which the MR image was then measured. The intensity of an image weighted by spin density is proportionate to the number of proton nuclei in the chosen slice, and the MR image is the mapping of their distribution in the cluster of growing tissue culture under examination [2]. The same technique was used to characterize the growth of early spruce embryos contaminated with lead and zinc. In the course of long-term measurements it is not possible to guarantee the stability of MR system and therefore the results were first normalized. The intensity integral was calculated from the MR images, which characterizes the number of protons of the growing cluster. The changes in the integral during the growth were established. The growth of tissue culture was evaluated from the size of clusters in diffusion images, which characterizes the change in the volume of clusters. The techniques for processing the data measured are given in the present paper.