Upgrading ultrasound imaging capabilities for preclinical research

为了了解疾病，我们使用了许多其他工具-人类疾病的小鼠模型。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的发生，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，使我们能够看到活体动物体内发生了什么。一个很好的技术是超声波。这是一种无创、无痛的技术。将成像头（称为“换能器”）放置在皮肤上，超声波可以穿透到体内，然后这些声波从它们遇到的任何组织反射并作为“回波”返回，这些回波在转换为移动图像之前由同一换能器拾取。超声成像也广泛用于临床环境（例如，监测怀孕期间子宫内胚胎的生长）。然而，由于使用的动物体积小，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，动物模型的跳动速度大约是人类的10倍，因此时间分辨率也需要更好。我们正在要求具有此类规格的设备，使我们能够在疾病的动物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，然而，我们将把超声成像的应用扩展到其他领域，如癌症和肝病。新的超声成像设备称为VevoF 2，将取代旧的，现在已经过时的设备。它将有更好的规格，从而使我们能够通过使用更少的动物和疾病进展较少的点来减轻研究中动物的负担。此外，新的超声波设备配备了软件包，使用新的工具和技术，以更好地利用记录的图像。它将使我们能够从这些图像中获得更多信息，例如通过一种称为组织多普勒的技术了解心脏或血管中的血流。由于新设备的模块化特性，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，例如使用造影剂更好地可视化肿瘤。

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.