Zebra Fish BriteVu Study

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Sep 14, 2020/ Off Comments / in Fish
Zebra Fish BriteVu Study

Zebra fish (Danio rerio) are the most studied fish species.  From southeast Asia and popular in the pet trade, Zebra fish are a common vertebrate model in scientific research. These fish are used to study drugs, heart disease, reproduction, genetics and much more.  Their small size (about 1 inch long full grown) decreases their space requirements compared to other large research animals (like rats and pigs).  However, studying vascular models in such small animals poses its own challenges.  Hand made needles (approximately 40 g) were used to deliver BriteVu with BriteVu Enhancer into the tail vein.  Doing so created outstanding vascular casts visible with CT. 

The fish was scanned using a Bruker micro CT SkyScan 1272 at 3µm slice thickness.  The heart (short arrow) was the focus of this study.  BriteVu makes the heart chambers and vessels readily visible with CT.  One can even see vessels within the brain (long arrow). This was a study in conjunction with Scarlet Imaging Project Support Services.

Below is an additional image of the same fish in a different (sagittal) plane:

Zebra fish perfused with BriteVu and BriteVu Enhancer highlighting the heart and gills.
Zebra fish with BriteVu contrast agent.