The use of echocardiograms for research in small animals is challenging. The test causes stress for small animals, like mice, and stress can distort cardiac measurements. Also, a mouse has a very small heart and a quick heartbeat that ranges between 500 and 700 beats per minute. The mouse heart's position, additionally, makes its parts difficult to image.
Echocardiograms are ultrasounds images of the heart. One-dimensional, or M-mode, and two-dimensional, or 2D, images provide a good measurement of the heart's chambers. The images can detect movement, thickness, and size. The 2D image is actually a slice, or a cross-section, of the heart as it is beating.
Doppler adds another dimension to the images. It helps to pinpoint the velocity and the direction of blood flow. It can identify, for instance, places where blood leaks in the heart valves. It can also identify narrowing, or stenosis, in the valves.
Echocardiograms are performed in vivo, or on living animals. They are most accurate when a mouse is awake. Anesthesia can slow the heart to as much as half its normal rate. To mitigate stress, technicians can perform echocardiograms on several subsequent days before they complete their official one. This helps mice adjust to the procedure. Technicians go through several steps to set up the test. First, they remove the mouse's chest hair using a depilatory agent. Second, they attach limb leads to the mouse's wrists and ankles.
Molecular imaging in mice are primarily of the left ventricle. Apical views are hard to obtain, which makes it difficult to see diastolic function in the right ventricle. The photoacoustic test can show the composition of the mouse's left ventricle. It can also detect cardiac lesions, atherosclerosis, and other cardiac diseases.
Small animal experiments help researchers to draw conclusions about human heart disease. Researchers for one study, for instance, performed echocardiograms on fetal mice. By doing this, researchers were able to watch the development of congenital heart disease. In another experiment, researchers introduced a beta-2 receptor into the heart of a mouse. They knew that the receptor was found in an enzyme that manifested in failing heart tissue. After echocardiograms were performed, researchers concluded that having the receptor in large quantities prevented disease in mice.
Mice are not the only animals used in tests. For example, researchers have recently begun to turn to hamsters. This happens because hamsters more closely imitate human heart conditions. Echocardiograms also aid veterinarians, who use them to manage feline and canine heart problems.
Echocardiographs should be carefully set to study small hearts. They should have less than 0.5 millimeters of spatial resolution. They should have a frame rate of 150 hertz and a sweep rate of 200-300 hertz.
Research on small animals continues to provide important information about disease in humans. Echocardiograms for research in small animals has provided researchers with information related to the heart. They have extrapolated that information to better understand human heart disease. Continuing this kind of research is critical to the battle against cardiovascular disease.
Echocardiograms are ultrasounds images of the heart. One-dimensional, or M-mode, and two-dimensional, or 2D, images provide a good measurement of the heart's chambers. The images can detect movement, thickness, and size. The 2D image is actually a slice, or a cross-section, of the heart as it is beating.
Doppler adds another dimension to the images. It helps to pinpoint the velocity and the direction of blood flow. It can identify, for instance, places where blood leaks in the heart valves. It can also identify narrowing, or stenosis, in the valves.
Echocardiograms are performed in vivo, or on living animals. They are most accurate when a mouse is awake. Anesthesia can slow the heart to as much as half its normal rate. To mitigate stress, technicians can perform echocardiograms on several subsequent days before they complete their official one. This helps mice adjust to the procedure. Technicians go through several steps to set up the test. First, they remove the mouse's chest hair using a depilatory agent. Second, they attach limb leads to the mouse's wrists and ankles.
Molecular imaging in mice are primarily of the left ventricle. Apical views are hard to obtain, which makes it difficult to see diastolic function in the right ventricle. The photoacoustic test can show the composition of the mouse's left ventricle. It can also detect cardiac lesions, atherosclerosis, and other cardiac diseases.
Small animal experiments help researchers to draw conclusions about human heart disease. Researchers for one study, for instance, performed echocardiograms on fetal mice. By doing this, researchers were able to watch the development of congenital heart disease. In another experiment, researchers introduced a beta-2 receptor into the heart of a mouse. They knew that the receptor was found in an enzyme that manifested in failing heart tissue. After echocardiograms were performed, researchers concluded that having the receptor in large quantities prevented disease in mice.
Mice are not the only animals used in tests. For example, researchers have recently begun to turn to hamsters. This happens because hamsters more closely imitate human heart conditions. Echocardiograms also aid veterinarians, who use them to manage feline and canine heart problems.
Echocardiographs should be carefully set to study small hearts. They should have less than 0.5 millimeters of spatial resolution. They should have a frame rate of 150 hertz and a sweep rate of 200-300 hertz.
Research on small animals continues to provide important information about disease in humans. Echocardiograms for research in small animals has provided researchers with information related to the heart. They have extrapolated that information to better understand human heart disease. Continuing this kind of research is critical to the battle against cardiovascular disease.
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