Multichannel Pulsed Doppler Signal Processing for Vascular Measurements in Mice

The small size, high heart rate and small tissue displacement of a mouse require small sensors that are capable of high spatial and temporal tissue displacement resolutions and multichannel data acquisition systems with high sampling rates for simultaneous measurement of high fidelity signals. We developed and evaluated an ultrasound-based mouse vascular research system (MVRS) that can be used to characterize vascular physiology in normal, transgenic, surgically altered and disease models of mice. The system consists of multiple 10/20 MHz ultrasound transducers, analog electronics for Doppler displacement and velocity measurement, signal acquisition and processing electronics and personal computer based software for real-time and off-line analysis. In vitro testing of the system showed that it is capable of measuring tissue displacement as low as 0.1 μm and tissue velocity (μm/s) starting from 0. The system can measure blood velocities up to 9 m/s (with 10 MHz Doppler at a PRF of 125 kHz) and has a temporal resolution of 0.1 milliseconds. Ex vivo tracking of an excised mouse carotid artery wall using our Doppler technique and a video pixel tracking technique showed high correlation (R² = 0.99). The system can be used to measure diameter changes, augmentation index, impedance spectra, pulse wave velocity, characteristic impedance, forward and backward waves, reflection coefficients, coronary flow reserve and cardiac motion in murine models. The system will facilitate the study of mouse vascular mechanics and arterial abnormalities resulting in significant impact on the evaluation and screening of vascular disease in mice. (E-mail: areddy@bcm.edu).