Surgery and In vivo Imaging Unit
Responsible person: Prof. Aleš Hampl, D.V.M., CSc.
The experimental surgery unit will consist of two interconnected rooms. One room will serve as an operating room and the other as a sampling room. Both rooms will be subject to special conditions, will be partially aseptic, and will have UV lamps installed. The operating room will be designed for small animal surgery (laboratory mice, rats) and will be fully equipped for the preparation of all types of animal models. General anaesthesia will be induced in experimental animals by injection of a mixture of anaesthetics or by inhalation apparatus with sevoflurane. Surgical procedures performed in the operating room will include all procedures in the field of abdominal and thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic procedures, procedures in the orofacial area, intraperitoneal, intravenous, intraorgan, intraarterial, intrathecal, and intracerebral applications of drugs/cells/organoids/engineered tissues. The sampling room will be used to collect tissues related to the animal model in question. Samples will be collected either natively without fixation for subsequent processing using molecular biological methods or fixed for histological processing. Fixation will be performed in a fume hood using a fixation perfusion apparatus. Two technological approaches are planned for the unit: microCT and multiphoton imaging through an imaging window. MicroCT will enable three-dimensional long-term monitoring of changes in the tissue mass of organs and tumours, bone growth and quality, teeth, etc., repeatedly on the same experimental animal using X-rays without the need for invasive procedures. Multiphoton imaging is a key part of this unit and will enable the imaging of natural processes in tissues, down to the level of individual cells. This approach also allows the monitoring of the internal organs of the animal (or embryos). In this case, it will require invasive intervention in the animal, typically by implanting an imaging window, which will also allow repeated imaging on the same animal. For this reason, it is planned to locate the in vivo imaging unit near the operating rooms. To maintain anaesthesia in the animals under examination and to monitor their physiological processes during imaging, both imaging stations will be equipped with inhalation anaesthesia units, heated pads, and lung and heart activity monitors. The in vivo imaging unit will serve a wide range of research projects, from developmental biology, physiology, and pathophysiology to tumour biology and drug and therapy testing.
A very special device – a gamma irradiator – will also be located in the "experimental" breeding area directly connected to the in vivo imaging unit. The irradiator will be located in a separate room and will be used for the safe (for the operator) irradiation of mice and rats with the aim of inducing damage to their immune systems. At the same time, the irradiator can be used to irradiate cells as a procedure for their mitotic inactivation.
What services/products will the unit provide?
Use of a surgical microscope with digital recording capability (M320 ENT; Leica)
Use of a high-frequency sonograph (VEVO 770; VisualSonics)
Use of a triple-function in vivo imager: fluorescence, luminescence, X-ray (Lago X; Spectral Instruments Imaging)
Technical support during surgical procedures on rodents
(please consult specific details in advance with Prof. Hampl; email: ahampl@med.muni.cz)
- Subunit name: Embryology
Responsible person: Volodymyr Porokh, M.D., Ph.D.
Embryo transfer
Embryotoxicity testing on animals
Ex vivo embryotoxicity testing using advanced light-sheet microscopy (Leica Viventis Deep)
(please consult specific details in advance with Dr; email: volodymyr.porokh@med.muni.cz)