Preclinical ultrasound in the Functional Genetics Facility (FGF)

This award has contributed to the purchase of a new state-of-the-art ultrasound system (VisualSonics Vevo 3100) for imaging the mouse heart in pre-clinical and translational studies. It is a shared resource that will benefit many research groups by providing imaging capabilities that are typically found in the cardiology clinic, but at much higher resolution to deal with very small heart sizes and high heart rates. This includes real-time 2-D imaging to assess heart function and shape, pulse wave and colour Doppler to measure blood flow, tissue Doppler to measure the speed of muscle movement, and strain analysis to provide detailed regional assessment of heart muscle function. It is a modular system, which allows additional imaging modalities to be added at a later date in response to changing research priorities.

Image title: The VisualSonics Vevo 3100 ultrasound imaging system