¹Mouse Imaging Centre, Department of Integrative Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada

Correspondence: X. Josette Chen, Mouse Imaging Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ont., Canada M5G 1X8. E-mail: josette@sickkids.ca

Received 28 October 2003; Accepted 4 November 2003; Published online 5 January 2004.

Abstract

We describe a novel technique to perform whole-body perfusion fixation in mice with specific relevance to micro-imaging. With the guidance of high-frequency ultrasound imaging, we were able to perfuse fixative and contrast agents via a catheter inserted into the left ventricle, and therefore preserved the integrity of the chest and abdominal cavity. In this preliminary study, our success rate over 15 animals was 73%. We demonstrate applications of this technique for magnetic resonance imaging and micro-CT, but we expect that this method can be generally applied to whole-body perfusions of other small animals in which the intact body is necessary.