University of Hawaii - Mouse Phenotyping Core

We can provide murine echocardiography, blood pressure determinations, surgical procedures and phlebotomy, as well as assistance with mouse husbandry and genotyping.

Services
General :

Echocardiogram - An echocardiogram, often referred to in the medical community as a cardiac ECHO or simply an ECHO, is a sonogram of the heart. Also known as a cardiac ultrasound, it uses standard ultrasound techniques to image two-dimensional slices of the heart.
In addition to creating two-dimensional pictures of the cardiovascular system, an echocardiogram can also produce accurate assessment of the velocity of blood and cardiac tissue at any arbitrary point using pulsed or continuous wave Doppler ultrasound. This allows assessment of cardiac valve areas and function, any abnormal communications between the left and right side of the heart, any leaking of blood through the valves (valvular regurgitation), and calculation of the cardiac output as well as the ejection fraction.
Blood Pressure Measurement - Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure (force per unit area) exerted by circulating blood on the walls of blood vessels, and constitutes one of the principal vital signs. The pressure of the circulating blood decreases as it moves away from the heart through arteries and capillaries, and toward the heart through veins. When unqualified, the term blood pressure usually refers to brachial arterial pressure: that is, in the major blood vessel of the upper left or right arm that takes blood away from the heart.
Complete in vivo Cardiovascular Studies - Long- or short-term studies that examine any aspect of cardiovascular disease for which a rodent model exists can be performed in our facility. Whether it involves long-term feeding (in the case of an atherosclerosis study) or a surgical procedure such as aortic banding or LAD ligation, complete studies from preparation of the mice and implementation of the procedure to harvesting of tissues and their preparation and analyses can be performed. Furthermore, combination of procedures to examine the effects of a therapeutic agent in any of the cardiovascular diseases can be carried out.