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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
Vascular Casting of Adult and Early Postnatal Mouse Lungs for Micro-CT Imaging
Published on: June 20, 2020
Replacing vascular corrosion casting by in vivo micro-CT imaging for building 3D cardiovascular models in mice
Bert Vandeghinste1, Bram Trachet, Marjolijn Renard
1IBITECH-MEDISIP, Ghent University-IBBT, Ghent, Belgium. Bert.Vandeghinste@UGent.b
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to investigate if in vivo micro-computed tomography (CT) is a reliable alternative to micro-CT scanning of a vascular corrosion cast. This would allow one to study the early development of cardiovascular diseases.
Procedures:
Datasets using both modalities were acquired, segmented, and used to generate a 3D geometrical model from nine mice. As blood pool contrast agent, Fenestra VC-131 was used. Batson's No. 17 was used as casting agent. Computational fluid dynamics simulations were performed on both datasets to quantify the difference in wall shear stress (WSS).
Results:
Aortic arch diameters show 30% to 40% difference between the Fenestra VC-131 and the casted dataset. The aortic arch bifurcation angles show less than 20% difference between both datasets. Numerically computed WSS showed a 28% difference between both datasets.
Conclusions:
Our results indicate that in vivo micro-CT imaging can provide an excellent alternative for vascular corrosion casting. This enables follow-up studies.
