title: Ultrasound-guided left-ventricular catheterization: a novel method of whole mouse perfusion for microimaging.
abstract: We describe a novel technique to perform whole-body perfusion fixation in mice with specific relevance to micro-imaging. With the guidance of high-frequency ultrasound imaging, we were able to perfuse fixative and contrast agents via a catheter inserted into the left ventricle, and therefore preserved the integrity of the chest and abdominal cavity. In this preliminary study, our success rate over 15 animals was 73%. We demonstrate applications of this technique for magnetic resonance imaging and micro-CT, but we expect that this method can be generally applied to whole-body perfusions of other small animals in which the intact body is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Mouse Imaging Centre, Department of Integrative Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Yu-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Lorinda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: R Mark
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Henkelman
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Nieman
authors.forename: F Stuart
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Lisa X
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: X Josette
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D010477:Perfusion / Q000379:methods*; D016707:Tissue Fixation / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods; D014463:Ultrasonography