Translational Technologies and Resources

Rodent Biotelemetry and Ultrasound Core

The Rodent Biotelemetry and Ultrasound Core offers invasive and non-invasive cardiovascular monitoring of rodents.

Biotelemetry allows for continuous monitoring of cardiovascular parameters including blood pressure, heart rate, electrocardiogram, etc. in conscious unrestrained rodents. This involves surgical implantation of transmitters (service) and data acquisition via associated hardware and software (instrumentation). Biotelemetry provides advantages over tail-cuff methods for measuring blood pressure because the animals are unrestrained and acute changes are more reliably detected.

The VisualSonics ultrasound instrumentation uses high-frequency, high-resolution digital imaging with linear array technology and color Doppler for general antatomical localization. It is particularly valuable in specialized research applications such as cardiac functional analysis and blood flow quantification in a variety of vascular beds.

Example of sample data from Biotelemetry in a mouse following activation of the renin-angiotensin system.