A group of six investigators at West Virginia University are requesting funds to purchase a VisualSonics Vevo 2100 micro-ultrasound for real-time, 3D imaging in small animals. Although clinical ultrasounds have been routinely used in humans for years, the Vevo is the only preclinical system with the resolution necessary to perform small animal imaging (spatial resolution down to 30 microns). Because this imaging platform is non- invasive, the same cohort of animals can be monitored for longitudinal studies, decreasing the number of animals needed while increasing the accuracy of the data being collected. The Vevo will be housed in the WVU Animal Models and Imaging Facility which is located within the vivarium in our Health Sciences Center. Our animal imaging facility is brand new (started in Dec 2008), and we are working hard to obtain the equipment and expertise necessary to support the translational research projects of our faculty across the university. The animal imaging facility is directed by Dr. Martin (the grant P.I.). We recently hired a technician who will be responsible for the daily operation of the facility and equipment, training for users and maintenance in the facility. With funds from a generous donor, we purchased a Xenogen IVIS Lumina optical imaging system to visualize luminescence and fluorescence in small animals. The Vevo is the next priority for our imaging center because 1) it is easy to use, 2) it provides pre-clinical imaging that does not depend on genetically-altered animals, and 3) it has broad applications that go beyond what the Lumina is able to perform, including the ability to visualize and monitor embryonic development, to study anatomical structures and to measure and quantitate cardiac function and blood flow. We have identified six major users for this grant, representing our three interdisciplinary research centers, as examples of the kinds of imaging we expect to perform with the Vevo. From the Center for Cardiovascular and Respiratory Sciences, we have investigators who will use the Vevo to measure the degree of plaque formation in a mouse model of atherosclerosis and to measure pathological changes in cardiac contractile performance in mouse models of type 1 diabetes mellitus. Researchers from the Center for Neuroscience will use the Vevo to deliver expression vectors into the brains of embryonic mice using the image-guided injection technology to study the function and development of the cerebral cortex and the genetic mechanisms that regulate embryonic neural development. Investigators in the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center will use the Vevo to detect and monitor tumor formation and angiogenesis in mouse models of prostate and ovarian cancer and to study the molecular regulation of angiogenesis that may be exploited to develop treatments for tissue ischemia and cancers. The Vevo will allow these researchers to monitor their animals in real time to assess embryonic development, the progression of disease and the efficacy of treatments. The goal of these translational research projects is to bring potential therapies back into the clinics to improve human health.
The Vevo 2100 is a micro-ultrasound designed specifically for real time, small animal imaging. This equipment will allow researchers using animal models of cardiovascular disease, neuronal development and cancer to non-invasively monitor embryonic development, the progression of disease and the efficacy of potential therapies. The Vevo will be housed in the WVU Animal Models and Imaging Facility and will be available to all of the researchers in the university.
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