(The FASEB Journal. 2008;22:lb11)
© 2008 FASEB
A novel approach to telemetry blood pressure probe placement in mice using high frequency micro-ultrasound guided surgery
Barry R Campbell1,
Michelle M Bunzel1,
Chunlian Zhang1,
Xiaolan Shen2,
Colette Ahn3,
Chris Vernon Johnson2,
Tian-Quan Cai3 and
Matthew Walker, III1
1 Imaging
2 Laboratory Animal Resources
3 Cardiovascular Diseases, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ
ABSTRACT
Image-guided surgery has been shown to minimize invasiveness, increase effectiveness, and ultimately reduce procedure duration and patient recovery time. In the preclinical space, our goal was to use High Frequency Micro-Ultrasound (HFMU) to increase stability of pressure readings from blood pressure probes in hypertension drug development. Surgical implantation of the telemetry probe was performed via the left carotid artery to the level of branching from the aorta of BPH mice. Real time adjustments were made while imaging with HFMU such that three locations were vetted: 1) ascending aorta, 2) aortic arch at the region of the left carotid or 3) left carotid artery 2mm from the aorta. Once the probe tip was in position, the mouse was recovered and blood pressure recordings were then taken. After a complete analysis of the initial blood pressure, longterm pressure recordings were tracked to confirm ideal probe placement to the aortic arch (at region of carotid branch point). In conclusion HFMU guided surgery has allowed us to: 1) decrease the variability of blood pressure readings often associated with the placement of probes, 2) increase the successful placement of the probes (stable BP and PP) from a success rate of 50% to a success rate of approximately 85%, 3) decrease animal usage, and ultimately, 4) improve the overall quality of the experiments.
