Visual Sonics Vevo 770 Micro-Ultrasound

Instrument

The Vevo 770 (Visualsonics Inc., Toronto, Canada) is a state-of-the-art high-resolution micro-ultrasound imaging system designed especially for small animal imaging research.

The system has a broadband scanhead (RMV 704) centered at 40 MHz (20- to 60-MHz imaging band), a 17.9-mm lateral field of view, 6-mm focal length and an axial resolution of 40 µm; a cardiac scanhead (RMV707B) centered at 30 MHz (15- to 45-MHz imaging band), with a 20-mm lateral field of view, a 12.7-mm focal length and resolution of 55 µm; and a scanhead for rats larger than 350 grams total weight (RMV716) centered at 17.5 Mhz, with a 32-mm lateral field of view and 17.5-mm focal length providing 85-µm resolution.

The system supports real-time B-mode imaging (30 frames per second) with spatial resolution down to 30 µm. The Vevo 770 has bench top positioning system for 3D imaging and is equipped with an image-guided needle injection system. The system also has Doppler capabilities which include Pulsed Wave Doppler, Tissue Doppler and Power Doppler imaging modes. The software includes a cardiac evaluation package EKV (or ECG-based kilohertz visualization) which uses line-based reconstruction allowing frame rates of up to 1,000 frames per second.

Applications

The Vevo 770 provides a fast, cost-effective method for visualizing disease in a wide range of small animal models of cancer. The system is compact and mobile, and can be placed in procedure rooms or adjacent to other instrumentation for characterization of disease using multiple imaging modalities.

B-Mode, 3D-Mode and image-guided injection capabilities are available to facilitate completely non-invasive longitudinal imaging studies or imaging guidance for inoculations, biopsies, bioassays or therapeutic delivery in small animals. A 3D rendering and visualization package is available to aid in accurate measurement and visualization of volumes, providing researchers the ability to effectively visualize and measure detailed adult mouse cardiac anatomy and function including vessels, structures and wall thickness.