Echocardiography System for Laboratory Rodents

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Ongoing cardiovascular research initiatives and collaborative projects are analyzing animal models for uremic cardiomyopathy and heart failure as well as myocardial infarction and vascular calcification. Our recently initiated consortium has the core focus to understand cardiovascular pathophysiology in chronic kidney disease including vascular and cardiac remodeling. Given the growing demand on in vivo measurements of cardiac function within the initiative but also at various other research projects a novel state of the are ultrasound device that allows high-resolution imaging of the heart as well as the vasculature and includes color-duplex mode and speckle tracking software to detect minor changes in cardiac contractility, as typically occurring in chronic kidney disease, is urgently needed. However, at University Hospital Aachen, the currently available system is off the market since 2013 and not anymore considered state of the art due to its low resolution and missing color duplex sonography. Therefore, a state of the art ultra high frequency ultrasound system is urgently needed to analyze cardiac and vascular function in the above mentioned projects. The integrated speckle tracking application, the color doppler and the new 3D to 4D mode of the system applied for additionally will enable state of the art evaluation of cardiovascular parameters needed by all project partners. With the support of a high resolution ultrasound, we aim to develop therapies against early uremic cardiac and vascular changes.