27/01/2021 - Dustin (ESR #14)
This image shows a size comparison of a regular pen and a pressure volume catheter used for precise analysis of the heart function in mice. This useful but tiny device can be inserted via a blood vessel inside the neck into the left ventricle (left chamber) to determine simultaneously the pressure and volume in the beating heart of a mouse (in vivo experiment). The catheter is connected to a computer allowing real time assessment of each heart beat generating pressure volume loops (PV-loops). PV-loops can be used to assess various parameters that characterize heart function.
Due to the small size of the mice and especially the mice heart, precise assessment of the cardiac function remains challenging. Nowadays, several imaging technologies are used to provide information regarding cardiac function in mice (e.g. ultrasonic or magnetic resonance imaging). However, only PV-loops provide the precise, real time and simultaneous measurement of chamber pressure and volume in mice heart. Also a great advantage of PV-loops is that they have already been well established in humans, thereby enhancing translation of the results to humans.1 During my PhD project I will use PV-loops to study the toxic effects of anti-cancer drugs in mice hearts.2 This gives a better insight into the side effects of anti-cancer drug and helps to develop new strategies to reduce them.
References:
- Townsend, D. W. (2016). Measuring pressure volume loops in the mouse. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 2016(111), 53810. https://doi.org/10.3791/53810
- Poster SPS meeting 2019, Barcelona