Rodent Imaging Facility

The Center for Preclinical Development operates state of the art preclinical imaging infrastructure for rodent application within the Laboratory Animal Service Center (LASC)  of University of Zurich.  Please direct your inquiry towards Dr. Conny Waschkies

MRI

A 7T Bruker preclinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanner is available, equipped with whole body as well as dedicated surface coils for imaging mice and rats. This allows for imaging and spectroscopy of a broad spectrum of pathologies across the entire body. Additionally, ²³Na volume coils for sodium imaging are available. For cardiac imaging a dedicated MR conditional rodent ECG is available. The study animals are kept at physiological temperature by a water heating system integrated into the animal bed.

micro CT

Adjacent to the MRI scanner lies the CT examination room equipped with a fully shielded micro CT for whole body or dedicated organ imaging. The micro CT includes a workstation for image reconstruction and processing.

Anesthesia

A dedicated bay for induction of anesthesia, enabling the safe and efficient preparation of animals prior to procedures is available to researches. Infrastucture for inhalation anesthesia is available at both MR and CT imaging in order to be performed under general anesthesia.