Comprehensive digital documentation of teratology studies

One of the main endpoints for the evaluation of Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology (DART) studies is the determination of potential effects of a test substance on the skeleton during foetal development. In the course of a DART study according to the OECD 414 guideline, 400-500 gestational day 20-old (GD20), alizarin red and alcian blue-stained (ARAB) rat foetuses have to be assessed by a teratology expert, which is a time consuming and sub-optimally documented process. We have developed a method which allows for a standardised, comprehensive, quick and easy to perform, head-to-toe digital documentation of ARAB-stained GD20 rat foetuses. The method consists of the acquiring a video-stream or a time lapse-recording of foetuses, which for this purpose are axially rotated in a custom-made device. The obtained digital material is suitable for the complete visual inspection of stained foetal specimen from all sides in great detail, and thus can replace the conventional inspection under a binocular microscope, and might render the archiving of such specimen unnecessary.