Zhang, Alex

Zebrafish are being increasingly used as animal models for human diseases such as cardiomyopathy and neuroblastoma because zebrafish have a nearly fully sequenced genome to humans. One pilot study is to develop zebrafish echocardiography. Because the heart of a zebrafish is small, a high frequency ultrasound system (50–80 MHz) is used for imaging. B-Mode imaging is analyzed for quantification of ejection fraction (EF), end-systolic volume (ESV), and end-diastolic volume (EDV). Pulse-wave Doppler (PWD) is used to calculate the E/A ratio (the peak velocities of E and A waves) and myocardial performance index (MPI). Techniques for improving image quality and repeatability of zebrafish echocardiography are discussed. Another pilot study is to develop zebrafish ultrasound vibro-elastography (ZUVE) for measuring the elastic properties of zebrafish. An adult female zebrafish is anesthetized for 3 min. A 0.1-s gentle harmonic vibration is generated on the tail of a zebrafish using a sphere tip indenter with a 3 mm diameter. Shear wave propagation in the zebrafish is measured using a high frequency 18 MHz ultrasound linear array probe. We conclude that ZUVE is safe, fast, and noninvasive and feasible for testing the elastic properties of zebrafish.