The World’s First One-Touch Preclinical Imaging Platform

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     The Vevo 3100 is a new and innovative platform created for the future of imaging. It combines ultra high frequency ultrasound imaging, quantification and education in a convenient all-in-one touchscreen platform.Its intuitive control panel allows customizable workflow for rapid data acquisition, providing extremely high-throughput when needed and saving you time! At the sweep of your hand, it responds so quickly and intelligently to your imaging needs, you’ll know it was created precisely for researchers like you. With lightweight ergonomically designed MX series transducers, imaging has never been easier and clearer. The Vevo 3100 enables you to obtain in vivo anatomical, functional, physiological and molecular data simultaneously, all in real-time and with a resolution down to 30 μm.

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• Vevo® HD Image Technology – visualize your data like never before

• Intuitive touchscreen interface for all user types

• Customizable workflow for rapid data acquisition

• Anatomical, hemodynamic, functional and molecular data all in one platform

• Compact imaging system

• State-of-the-art ultra high frequency electronics operating up to 70 MHz

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The upgraded Visualsonics VEVO 3100 High Frequency Ultrasound system will take over for experiments from the previous VEVO 2100 system. 

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     Ultrasound imaging is based on the reflection of high frequency sound by tissues. Sound pulses are emitted from a transducer held against the subject and the reflected signal is detected and used to construct an image. The ultrasound can distinguish different tissues because each has its own properties of reflecting greater or lesser proportions of the emitted signal. In general, fluid-filled tissues transmit more sound than air-filled tissues, and therefore the relative water content of tissues impacts the resulting image. For most soft tissues, as the sound passes through each point in the tissues, a fraction is reflected back to the tumor, while the rest continues on. As a result, tissues far away from the  transducer (i.e. at the bottom of the screen for a linear array transducer) will appear darker or black.

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     Ultrasonography is a powerful imaging modality that enables non-invasive, real time visualization of abdominal organs and tissues. This technology has been adapted for use in mice through the utilization of higher frequency transducers, allowing for extremely high resolution imaging. This technique is particularly well-suited to small animal imaging due to the ultrasonographic properties of the normal mouse tissue, easily accessible imaging planes of mouse tissue, and the comparative  difficulty in imaging the mouse tissue with other technologies. A suite of measurements tools is   available to characterize the normal and diseased states of tissues. Easily screened organs include all peritoneal organs (liver, stomach, intestines, kidney, pancreas, spleen, bladder, prostate, ovaries), subcutaneous ectopic xerographs, mammary tissue, melanomas, etc.

The VEVO 2100 system expands the functionality, flexibility and image quality of small animal ultrasound, operating at frequencies never before achieved with solid-state array transducers.

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MicroScan transducers provide increased frame rates, superb contrast, unrivaled resolution and a wider field of view. The system is easy to use, non-invasive and fast, providing extremely high throughput when needed.

• rates in 2D up to 740 fps (for a 4x4 mm field of view)

• Imaging for anatomical and vascular visualization, when combined with either B-Mode, Power Doppler Mode or Nonlinear Contrast Imaging; allows for quantification of volume and vascularity within a defined anatomical structure

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Application: B-Mode Imaging

     B-Mode is a two-dimensional ultrasound image. The brightness of each pixel is determined by the amplitude of the returned echo signal from that location. These images allow for visualization and quantification of anatomical structures, as well as for the visualization of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Lesions such as tumors and atherosclerotic plaques can be identified and the extent of disease burden can be quantified.

 

     In addition, B-Mode can be used for image guided injections by enabling real-time imaging of needle placement of an injection or aspiration procedure. Example procedures include injection of chemicals, DNA or other biochemical compounds/materials into tissue regions that can be clearly seen within the image area; extraction of fluids and/or cells under image guidance for biopsy, bio-assays and analysis is also possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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B-Mode Ultrasound Imaging (Olive Lab)

 

 

Application: M-Mode Cardiac Imaging

     M-Mode imaging provides very high temporal resolution (1000 fps) of tissue motion along a single ultrasound beam, and is generally used in cardiovascular research to study the movement of the myocardium and valves, quantify cavity dimensions or to study the movement of vessel walls.

 

     Software analysis tools allow for quantification of key cardiac function parameters including ejection fraction, fractional shortening and cardiac output while M-Mode for visualization and quantification of wall motion in cardiovascular research, single line acquisition allows for the very high- temporal (1000 fps) resolution necessary for analysis of LV function. It is widely used by many researchers here at Columbia University Medical Center for assessing mouse cardiac structure and function.

 

 

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​M-Mode Ultrasound Imaging (OPTIC)

 

 

Application: Color Doppler Imaging

     Color Doppler Mode provides a visual overview of flow within the vessel or cardiac structure of interest. Flow direction and velocity can be delineated by red and blue color spectrums and is used for guidance when placing pulsed wave velocity sample volumes. This technique provides rapid identification of vessels, valves of interest and their corresponding flow rates. The ability to quantify flow direction and velocity greatly improves user confidence in vessel identification. Color flow sensitivity can be automatically pre-set by the user for various flow rates such as heart, carotid, kidney or small vessels such as femoral and arcuate arteries.

 

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​Example Color Doppler Imaging (Olive Lab)

 

 

     Color Doppler Imaging is a powerful tool for visualizing the blood flow and vascular health of certain tissues. It is also vitally important when surgical techniques involve areas of high vascular density.

 

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Application: Pulse Wave and Power Doppler Imaging

 

     Pulsed-Wave (PW) Doppler Mode is used primarily for the hemodynamic assessment of blood flow through the arteries and veins; it provides quantifiable information about the direction and velocity of blood through the specified vessel. PW Doppler can measure both direction and velocity of blood flow; abnormal flow is represented by an increase or decrease in velocity, a change in direction or flow, or the presence of turbulent flow. PW Doppler also provides information on the relationship between velocities in a cycle. For example, the ratio of systolic peak velocity to end-diastolic velocity in the renal artery relates to the health of the kidney vasculature in diabetic conditions.

 

     Power Doppler Mode can provide a visual overview and general quantification of flow velocity and spatial vascular profile. This is a particularly useful tool in the assessment of vascularity. Measurement tools in the Power Doppler Mode can calculate percent vascularity which is an index of relative vascular density. Small changes in organ vascularity can be detected with Power Doppler imaging and monitored with progression and regression of pathology or as a response to therapy. Power Doppler imaging can be done in conjunction with 3D-Mode to provide volumetric information.

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     The CUMC OPTIC can help you asses the blood flow of tissues of interest.  Investigators interested in hemodynamic research would find this technique extremely valuable to any preclinical research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Application: Nonlinear Contrast Imaging

 

     Contrast Agents allow untargeted and targeted contrast to be used with the VEVO 2100 high- resolution in vivo micro-imaging systems. The contrast agents and protocols have been optimized specifically for high-frequency micro-ultrasound and for preclinical applications.

 

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     Ultrasound-based contrast agents are typically small micron sized micro-bubbles that may be air or gas filled. Tissue typically reacts linearly to ultrasound energy while micro-bubbles react in a non- linear fashion to the same energy. Using proprietary filtering the VEVO system removes virtually all the linear response of tissue signal from the quantification process, allowing researchers to quantify only   the micro-bubble response. As these microbubbles are intravascular, they are easily introduced intravenously and pass through the vascular stream mimicking red blood cell movement.

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Contrast Imaging Example (Olive Lab)

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     Untargeted VEVO MicroMarker Contrast Agents provide image enhancement of the blood pool such as imaging and quantification of tumor and organ perfusion (including myocardial perfusion). The study and quantification of relative perfusion in vivo is an important metric for both cardiovascular studies (i.e. myocardial perfusion) as well as cancer research and tumorigenesis study (i.e. tumor perfusion) and general organ perfusion. Vascular architecture and structures can be visualized in tumor models and relative tumor perfusion can be quantified. For cardiovascular studies, imaging myocardial perfusion is possible along with the VEVO system's capabilities to perform complete cardiovascular assessments.

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     Contrast Imaging is a specialty here at the Columbia University OPTIC. Our experts can help you with valuable vascular studies for your investigations.

 

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Application: 3D-Volume Imaging Technology

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     3D-Mode combined with B-Mode, Power Doppler Mode and Contrast and Photoacoustic Imaging Functionality allow for advanced data acquisition and analysis in various application areas. Semi- automated 3-dimensional imaging can be performed rapidly and reproducibly. Following 3D acquisition, the VEVO software constructs the scans into a 3D image.

This powerful software enables investigators numerous functions, such as:

 

• sections in all directions, x-, y-, z- and any other plane variation

• 3D volume measurement

 

     3D imaging can be performed in B-Mode, Power Doppler Mode and Contrast Mode providing higher throughput when compared to other imaging modalities.

 

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​​Volume Surface Topographic Images (OPTIC)

 

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Application: Ultrasound-Guided Injection

 

     B-Mode high-frequency ultrasound imaging can be used for guided injections by enabling real- time imaging of needle placement of an injection or aspiration procedure. Example procedures include injection of chemicals, DNA or other biochemical compounds/materials into tissue regions that can be clearly seen within the image area; extraction of fluids and/or cells under image guidance for biopsy, bio-assays and analysis is also possible.

     This is a widely used technique here at the Irving Cancer Research Center for the orthotopic implantation of tumor cells into organs of interest to better recreate the disease model compared to subcutaneous tumor xenografts. It is also possible to carry out image-guided injections of embryos in utero as early as mid-gestation.

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Ultrasound Guided Needle Injection into a Tumor (L) and an Embryo (R) (OPTIC)

 

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