A two turn saddle shaped surface coil receiver was developed that allowed high resolution magnetic o resonance imaging of the rat spinal cord. This is particularly important in laboratory animals where central nervous system regions of interest are relatively small. A continuous copper wire 1.5 mm in diameter was wound into two turns 28 mm in diameter. The saddle shape of the second turn improved the homogeneity of the signal within the region of interest and maintained sufficient field of view and depth of penetration. The quality factor (Q) for the surface coil was Q= 199 unloaded, and Q=60 loaded. Using this surface coil with a GE CSI II 2.0 Tesla small bore magnet, spin echo T1 (TR= 500 msec, TE=25 msec) and T2 (TR=2000 msec, TE= 100 msec) weighted images were obtained in cross section, using 2 mm slice thickness with 2 excitations per phase encoding step. A sagittal gradient echo (rapid scan, TR=85 msec, TE= 10 msec) was used to document reestablishment of vascular flow following ischemia. Spinal cord ischemia was induced by 14 minute temporary occlusion of spinal cord blood supply. MRI was performed at 18 hours following ischemia. There was a 1.4 fold increase in T2 image intensity in ischemic rat spinal cord (\i = 4), consistent with edema formation, compared to normal rat spinal cord (n = 4). Preliminary studies show that similar high resolution images can be performed on the rat brain. This technique uses standard MRI equipment and the surface coil is made from inexpensive readily available materials. There are various animal models of cerebral and spinal cord injury that would benefit from improved high resolution MRI. This coil design may have application in larger animal models and the clinical setting. [Neurol Res 1996; 18: 471-474]