Upgrading ultrasound imaging capabilities for preclinical research

为了了解疾病，我们在许多工具中使用了人类疾病的老鼠模型。这些动物被设计成模仿人类疾病，因此可以研究导致这些疾病的起源和过程。一旦我们更好地了解了疾病是如何发生的，我们就可以测试治疗方法来改善疾病，而了解疾病和测试治疗疾病的方法都是我们研究项目的一个方面。为了跟踪疾病的进展和/或治疗方法如何改善这些疾病，我们需要成像工具，使我们能够看到活动物体内发生的事情。其中一个很好的技术就是超声波。这是一种非侵入性、无痛苦的技术。在皮肤上放置一个成像头(称为换能器)，超声波可以穿透到人体内，然后这些声波被反射到它们遇到的任何组织上，并以回声的形式返回，这些回声被同一换能器拾取，然后转换为运动图像。超声成像也广泛应用于临床环境中(例如，在怀孕期间监测子宫内胚胎的生长情况)。然而，由于所用动物的体积很小，我们研究中使用的超声需要比临床使用的机器更好的空间分辨率。此外，对于专注于心脏的研究，动物模型的心跳速度大约是人类的十倍，因此时间分辨率也需要更好。我们正在要求具有这样的规格的设备，使我们能够在动物疾病模型中进行超声成像。使用该设备的大多数研究项目将集中在心血管疾病上，但我们将把超声成像的应用扩展到其他领域，如癌症和肝病。新的超声成像设备名为VevoF2，将取代现已过时的旧设备。它将有更好的规格，从而允许我们通过使用更少的动物和在疾病进展较慢的点上减轻研究中动物的负担。此外，新的超声设备配备了软件包，使用新的工具和技术来更好地利用所记录的图像。这将使我们能够从这些图像中获得更多信息，例如通过一种名为组织多普勒的技术获得心脏或血管中的血液流动。由于新设备的模块化性质，未来可以购买硬件和软件扩展，以使设备适应新的应用或研究问题，例如实施造影剂的使用，以更好地可视化肿瘤。

In order to understand diseases, we use - among many other tools - mouse models of human diseases. These animals are designed to mimic human diseases so the origin and processes leading to these diseases can be studied. Once we understand better how the diseases come about, we can test treatments to improve disease, and both understanding disease and testing approaches to treat disease are aspects of our research projects.In order to follow how diseases progress and/or how treatments improve these diseases, we need imaging tools that allow us to see what is going on inside the body of a living animal. One great technique for this is ultrasound. It is a non-invasive, pain-free technique. An imaging head (called 'transducer') is placed on the skin and the ultrasound waves can penetrate into the body, These sound waves are then reflected off any tissues they meet and return as 'echoes' that are picked up by the same transducer before being converted to a moving image. Ultrasound imaging is also widely used in clinical settings (e.g. to monitor the growth of embryos inside the womb during pregnancy). However, due to the small size of the animals used, the ultrasound used in our research needs much better spatial resolution than in clinically used machines. Moreover, for research focussing on the heart, the beating rate of animal models is roughly ten times faster than that of humans, so also the temporal resolution needs to be much better. We are requesting equipment with such specifications that will allow us to carry out ultrasound imaging in animal models of disease. The majority of research projects using the equipment will focus on cardiovascular diseases, however, we will expand the application of ultrasound imaging to other areas, such as cancer and liver disease. The new ultrasound imaging equipment, called VevoF2, will replace old, now obsolete equipment. It will have better specifications, hence allowing us to reduce the burden on animals in research by using less animals and at points where the disease has less progressed. Moreover, the new ultrasound equipment comes with software packages that use novel tools and techniques to make better use of the images recorded. It will allow us to get more information out of these images, e.g. about blood flow in the heart or blood vessels by a technique called tissue Doppler.Due to the modular nature of the new equipment, hard- and software extensions can be bought in the future to adapt the equipment to new applications or research questions, e.g. to implement the use of contrast agents to better visualise tumours.