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Updated: May 7, 2026
A Novel Use of Three-dimensional High-frequency Ultrasonography for Early Pregnancy Characterization in the Mouse
Published on: October 24, 2017
High-throughput, high-frequency 3-D ultrasound for in utero analysis of embryonic mouse brain development
Orlando Aristizábal1, Jonathan Mamou, Jeffrey A Ketterling
1Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine, Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA; Lizzi Center for Biomedical Engineering, Riverside Research, New York, New York, USA.
Abstract:
With the emergence of the mouse as the predominant model system for studying mammalian brain development, in utero imaging methods are urgently required to analyze the dynamics of brain growth and patterning in mouse embryos. To address this need, we combined synthetic focusing with a high-frequency (38-MHz) annular-array ultrasound imaging system for extended depth-of-field, coded excitation for improved penetration and respiratory-gated transmit/receive. This combination allowed non-invasive in utero acquisition of motion-free 3-D data from individual embryos in approximately 2 min, and data from four or more embryos in a pregnant mouse in less than 30 min. Data were acquired from 148 embryos spanning 5 d of early to mid-gestational stages of brain development. The results indicated that brain anatomy and cerebral vasculature can be imaged with this system and that quantitative analyses of segmented cerebral ventricles can be used to characterize volumetric changes associated with mouse brain development.
