We thank Manon Laprise for training in echocardiography and Ann Chamberland for taking the photos shown in Figures 1 and 2. This work was supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research grant MOP 44363 and Canada Chair 950-216684.

All procedures shown in this protocol have been approved by the IRCM Animal Care Committee.
1. Ultrasound System and Station Preparation
<ol>
	<li>Start the ultrasound imaging system and connect the scanhead as well as the physiology controller unit according to the manufacturer&#39;s instruction (Figure 1). Choose Cardiac Measurement Program and the scanhead that corresponds to the 30 MHz transducer.</li>
	<li>Fill the nosepiece of the scanhead with deionized water. Avoid a...

<ol>
	<li>Hoffman, J. I., Kaplan, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+incidence+of+congenital+heart+disease.">The incidence of congenital heart disease.</a> J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 39, 1890-1900 (2002).</li><li>Miller, S. P., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Abnormal+brain+development+in+newborns+with+congenital+heart+disease.">Abnormal brain development in newborns with congenital heart disease.</a> N. Engl. J. Med. 357, 1928-1938 (2007).</li><li>Bruneau, B. G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+developmental+genetics+of+congenital+heart+disease.">The developmental genetics of congenital heart disease.</a> Nature. 451, 943-948 (2008).</li><li>Wessels, A., Sedmera, D. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Developmental+anatomy+of+the+heart:+a+tale+of+mice+and.">Developmental anatomy of the heart: a tale of mice and.</a> 15, 165-176 (2003).</li><li>Yu, Q., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=ENU+induced+mutations+causing+congenital+cardiovascular+anomalies.">ENU induced mutations causing congenital cardiovascular anomalies.</a> Development. 131, 6211-6223 (2004).</li><li>Seidah, N. G., Prat, A. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+biology+and+therapeutic+targeting+of+the+proprotein+convertases.">The biology and therapeutic targeting of the proprotein convertases.</a> Nat. Rev. Drug Discov. 11, 367-383 (2012).</li><li>Roebroek, A. J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Failure+of+ventral+closure+and+axial+rotation+in+embryos+lacking+the+proprotein+convertase+Furin.">Failure of ventral closure and axial rotation in embryos lacking the proprotein convertase Furin.</a> Development. 125, 4863-4876 (1998).</li><li>Roebroek, A. J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Limited+redundancy+of+the+proprotein+convertase+furin+in+mouse+liver.">Limited redundancy of the proprotein convertase furin in mouse liver.</a> J. Biol. Chem. 279, 53442-53450 (2004).</li><li>Kisanuki, Y. Y., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Tie2-Cre+transgenic+mice:+a+new+model+for+endothelial+cell-lineage+analysis+in+vivo.">Tie2-Cre transgenic mice: a new model for endothelial cell-lineage analysis in vivo.</a> Dev. Biol. 230, 230-242 (2001).</li><li>Kim, W., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Loss+of+endothelial+furin+leads+to+cardiac+malformation+and+early+postnatal+death.">Loss of endothelial furin leads to cardiac malformation and early postnatal death.</a> Mol. Cell Biol. 32, 3382-3391 (2012).</li></ol>

M-mode echocardiography is an effective and simple method to measure in utero heart rates of mouse embryos. Commercially available transducers provide sufficient resolution to visualize small beating hearts. Thus, they allow a highly accurate heart rate measurement, as compared to other methods such as pulse measurement, and can substitute high resolution video microscopy. However, current tools do not allow the simultaneous analysis of all embryos, implying a tedious procedure to visualize each of the embryos. ...

CHD is the most common noninfectious cause of death at birth1. Multiple surgeries are often needed to correct the structural defects in subjects whose quality of life may remain compromised1. Children with CHD frequently develop neurological disorders even if they have not undergone surgery, indicating important in utero consequences on development2,3. Both genetic and environmental factors, such as exposure to viruses or chemicals (alcohol) during pregnancy, cause CHD. Studying the genetic contributors is still at its early phase, but growing rapidly. To identify these contributors and understand their role in heart development, phenotyping mutant mice with a simple and powerful tool will be highly beneficial.
Mouse is indeed an animal model of choice to study CHD, and most of the human cases can be reproduced in mice4,5. Consequently, fetal mouse cardiac phenotyping has become increasingly important to investigate the etiology of human CHD and requires adequate tools. Although histological studies on fixed specimens are invaluable, real-time imaging of live animals is crucial to understand the physiology of the heart. Video microscopy offers live imaging. However, it requires laparotomy to expose embryos, thereby compromising their physiologic and hemodynamic state. Recently, echocardiography has become the standard imaging technique for cardiac assessments in the clinic as well as in mice.
Mouse fetal echocardiography is conducted using standard clinical ultrasound systems as well as ultra-high frequency ultrasound systems. The latter provide 30 MHz or higher frequency transducers that generate two-dimensional images and allow the assessment of early embryonic stages. These transducers have a relatively poor penetration depth (~13 mm), which is, however, sufficient to obtain adequate imaging planes and determine fundamental heart parameters, such as heart rate, left and right ventricular internal diameter at diastole and systole and septum and wall thickness, without performing laparotomy.
In our study, we have used an ultra-high frequency ultrasound system to assess heart rates of mouse embryos at embryonic day E18.5. We chose a 30 MHz transducer that provides a field view of 20 mm x 20 mm, which is ideal given the size of the fetuses, with a focal length of 12.7 mm. However, a higher frequency transducer may be chosen to analyze earlier developmental stages. The selected M-mode allows the visualization of tissues in motion thanks to a high temporal resolution of 1,000 frames/sec. The full procedure is simple and should be performed as quickly as possible to avoid any perturbation of the physiologic and hemodynamic states of the fetus. The analysis of about 8 embryos requires approximately 1 hr.

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		<tr height="44">
			<td height="44" style="height:44px;width:164px;">Isoflurane</td>
			<td style="width:160px;">Pharmaceutical Partners of Canada Inc.</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">CP0406v2</td>
			<td style="width:163px;">1-chloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl difluoromethyl ether</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Ultrasound gel</td>
			<td>Parker Laboratories Inc.</td>
			<td>Aquasonic Clear</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Electrode gel</td>
			<td>Parker Laboratories Inc.</td>
			<td>Spectra 360</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Ophthalmic gel</td>
			<td>Novartis</td>
			<td>Tear-Gel</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Depilatory cream</td>
			<td>Church &#38; Dwight Co., Inc.</td>
			<td>Nair</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Hair clipper</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Gauze/cotton swap</td>
			<td>Q-tips</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Permanent marker</td>
			<td></td>
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		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;"></td>
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			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="44">
			<td height="44" style="height:44px;width:164px;">High-Resolution In vivo Ultrasound Imaging System</td>
			<td style="width:160px;">Visual Sonics</td>
			<td style="width:104px;">Vevo770</td>
			<td style="width:163px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">30 MHz Transducer</td>
			<td>Visual Sonics</td>
			<td>RMV707B</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="44">
			<td height="44" style="height:44px;width:164px;">Imaging platform and physiology controller unit</td>
			<td>Visual Sonics</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Anesthetic System</td>
			<td>Cyprane North America Inc.</td>
			<td>312462</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="22">
			<td height="22" style="height:22px;">Infrared heating lamp</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

in utero measurement of heart rate in mouse by noninvasive m-mode echocardiography

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most frequent noninfectious cause of death at birth. The incidence of CHD ranges from 4 to 50/1,000 births (Disease and injury regional estimates, World Health Organization, 2004). Surgeries that often compromise the quality of life are required to correct heart defects, reminding us of the importance of finding the causes of CHD. Mutant mouse models and live imaging technology have become essential tools to study the etiology of this disease. Although advanced methods allow live imaging of abnormal hearts in embryos, the physiological and hemodynamic states of the latter are often compromised due to surgical and/or lengthy procedures. Noninvasive ultrasound imaging, however, can be used without surgically exposing the embryos, thereby maintaining their physiology. Herein, we use simple M-mode ultrasound to assess heart rates of embryos at E18.5 in utero. The detection of abnormal heart rates is indeed a good indicator of dysfunction of the heart and thus constitutes a first step in the identification of developmental defects that may lead to heart failure.

The above method was used to assess the impact of the presence or absence of the serine protease furin in endothelial cells on heart rates of mouse embryos at E18.5 in utero. Furin belongs to the family of proprotein convertases (PCs) that cleave protein precursors after basic residues. Furin and its substrates are secretory proteins and cleavage can occur in the Golgi apparatus, endosomes or at the cell surface. Key substrates of furin include TGFb, and TGFb-like factors, such as the bone morphogenetic proteins...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about In utero Measurement of Heart Rate in Mouse by Noninvasive M-mode Echocardiography at JoVE.com

In utero Measurement of Heart Rate in Mouse by Noninvasive M-mode Echocardiography

Ultra-high frequency ultrasound is a powerful live imaging tool to examine cardiac abnormalities in small animals. Its noninvasiveness allows maintaining the physiologic state of embryos. Herein, we show the use of M-mode ultrasound to measure the heart rates of embryos at E18.5 in utero.

In utero Measurement of Heart Rate in Mouse by Noninvasive M-mode Echocardiography

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most frequent noninfectious cause of death at birth. The incidence of CHD ranges from 4 to 50/1,000 births (Disease ...

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11.3K visualizações.  Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal.  Ultra-alta freqüência ultra-som é uma ferramenta de imagem ao vivo poderoso para examinar anormalidades cardíacas em pequenos animais. Sua noninvasiveness permite manter o estado fisiológico de embriões. Aqui, vamos mostrar o uso do M-modo ultra-som para medir os batimentos cardíacos de embriões em E18.5 no útero. 