A Portable Device for Accurate Mouse Tail Vein Injection

PROJECT SUMMARYABSTRACT To datethe standard method to access a mouse tail vein is manual injectionbut its yield rate is poor in generalThis leads to multiple needle insertions associated with tissue damage and painBesidesfailure in tail vein injection leads to data lossand thereby more animals will be required to compensate itFinallythe dose variation induced by unreliable injection increases errors in data quantificationThereforethe development of a portable and inexpensive device presenting high yield rate is imperative to improve animal welfare and data quality and to reduce the total research costThe PI has recently invented a device to facilitate tail vein injection in micenamed Mouse Tail vein Injection Needle GuideMTINGMTING guides a needle to the lateral tail vein of a mouse using the relationship between the tail diameter and the vein depthMTING also contains a light emitting diodeLEDto visualize the tail vein regardless of mouse skin colorUsing MTINGthe PI achievedyield rateout ofanimalsMTING is small and made of inexpensive materialsthus it can be globally affordable for routine preclinical researchHoweverproper training for hand posture and mouse tail positioning is required for using MTINGthus its yield rate can be still affected by the level of user training and experienceThe goal of this Phase I proposal is to upgrade MTING so that the high yield rate can be achieved regardless of training and experience level of techniciansThree specific aims over amonth period are proposed as followsAimDevelop mouse tail holdersMouse tail holders will secure the tail firmlywhile yielding the appropriate amount of pressure to dilate the veinThis is important especially when the animals are not anesthetizedAimDevelop an automatic illumination systemIn the upgraded versionthe LED will be turned on automaticallyonly when the mouse tail is properly positionedThereforethe LED will function not only for visualizing tail vein but also as an indicator of proper tail positioningAimValidate the upgraded device in preclinical settingsThe MTING equipped with the new mouse tail holders and automatic illumination system will be tested in three strains of laboratory miceblackagoutiand albinoEach mouse will be injected with green dye using the MTINGtest groupor following the conventional protocolcontrol groupand the yield rates achieved by two different methods will be statistically comparedMTING will be also tested for blood withdrawal PROJECT NARRATIVE The goal of this study is to develop a device to facilitate tail vein injection in miceor higher yield rateThis device will significantly increase animal welfare as well as improve data qualitywhile decreasing the total research costThis device will be a paradigm shift in mouse tail vein injection for the global preclinical research community