Project

Discipline

ultrasonography; neural development and repair; cardiovascular repair; endocrinology and metabolism; high resolution ultrasound; developmental neurobiology; cardiology; endocrinology; microsurgery

Lead
Lay summary
Although a great deal of progress has been made in the development of biomedical imaging devices over the past decades, the data provided by these instruments represent a compromise between resolution and acquisition time. Devices with high resolution require long acquisition times (typically seconds to minutes), while fast acquisition often occurs at the expense of spatial resolution. Because of these constraints, many of these imaging devices are ill-suited to the study of dynamic cellular events in live animals.The equipment presented in this proposal is a high-resolution ultrasound device (VEVO 770, Visualsonics, Canada), which overcomes these limitations, since it enables real-time imaging in vivo with a spatial resolution close to 30 ?m. These extremely high temporal and spatial resolutions enable precise targeting of small cell assemblies and the monitoring of small-scale physiological events, in live animals. Applications of this technology, as presented in this proposal, include the in vivo collection/administration of cells from/to circumscribed anatomical niches, the targeted delivery of genes to cellular subpopulations in discrete micro-regions, and the monitoring of mechanical cellular properties (including blood flow) and cell growth. Knowledge about these cellular processes in vivo is critical to progress across biomedical sciences, including neuroscience, stem cell biology/regenerative medicine, psychiatry, oncology, immunology, endocrinology and cardiology.

Direct link to Lay Summary

Last update: 21.02.2013

Number	Title	Start	Funding scheme

Although a great deal of progress has been made in the development of biomedical imaging devices over the past decade, the data provided by these instruments represent a compromise between resolution and acquisition time. Devices with high resolution require long acquisition times (typically seconds to minutes), while fast acquisition often occurs at the expense of spatial resolution. Because of these constraints, many of these imaging devices are ill-suited to the study of dynamic cellular events in live animals.The equipment presented in this proposal is a high-resolution ultrasound device (VEVO 770, Visualsonics, Canada), which overcomes these limitations, since it enables real-time imaging in vivo with a spatial resolution close to 30 µm. These extremely high temporal and spatial resolutions enable precise targeting of small cell assemblies and the monitoring of small-scale physiological events, in live animals. Applications of this technology include the in vivo collection/administration of cells from/to circumscribed anatomical niches, the targeted delivery of genes to cellular subpopu-lations in discrete micro-regions, and the monitoring of mechanical cellular properties (including blood flow) and cell growth. Knowledge about these cellular processes in vivo is critical to progress across biomedical sciences, including neuroscience, stem cell biology/regenerative medicine, psychiatry, oncology, immunology, endocrinology and cardiology. The potential and critical value of this high-resolution ultrasound device in pre-clinical research across disciplines is illustrated in this proposal by 6 research projects, all of which are based on proposals supported by the SFN; emphasis will be put on the first proposal to offer specific information on the applications of this innovative technology. These six proposals are:1. In vivo genetic manipulation of sensory and motor cortex plasticity. (Field: Neuroscience, Prof. D. Jabaudon)2. Therapeutic application of embryonic stem cell-derived neurons: in vivo real-time monitoring of injection site and cell differentiation. (Field: Stem Cell Biology, Prof. K.-H. Krause)3. Drug-eluting cardiovascular prosthesis using biodegradable polymers: real-time in vivo monitoring of the functionality of vascular grafts. (Field: Cardiology, Dr. B. Walpoth)4.In vivo targeting of cortical interneurons: molecular control of neuronal migration as a transla-tional approach to psychiatric disorders. (Field: Psychiatry, Dr. A. Dayer)5. In vivo monitoring of pancreatic beta cell function using high-resolution ultrasound imaging. (Field: Endocrinology, Prof. P. Meda)6. In vivo control of excitability in cortical neurons: Modulation of the excitatory/inhibitory balance by general anesthetics during neuronal network development. (Field: Anesthesiology, Dr. L. Vutskits)