Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

This application requests a new high-frequency ultrasound imaging system to replace a heavily used, obsolete, and failing machine that is essential for our research, training of numerous HQP, and collaborations across campus. Our labs study heart structure and function to understand how it adapts to stressors such as exercise and nutrition, and how it interacts with other organs (e.g., brain). We investigate novel mechanisms regulating mitochondrial bioenergetics in the heart and how these are altered by factors such as aging, diet, and sex. Recently, we identified novel splice variants of erythropoietin secreted by the heart and will study changes in heart endocrine function during cardiogenesis and adulthood in both sexes. Additionally, we explore how exercise and nutrition impact cardiac structure and function, and how heart-brain interactions develop and are influenced by environmental factors. Our work relies on rodent models, as it cannot be performed in humans. The Vevo F2 is tailored specifically to visualize rodent hearts and assess cardiac structure and function in real time. This system is foundational to our research, serving as a core investigative tool and the starting point for almost all our studies, enabling us to capture baseline and dynamic physiological changes in cardiac structure and function in real time, non-invasively. The Vevo F2 will not only support our labs but also foster interdisciplinary research across the University. Collaborators in areas such as neurobiology, skeletal muscle physiology, and cancer research will benefit from the system's advanced imaging capabilities, enabling them to study vascular remodeling, neurogenic inflammation, and tumor structure, among other applications. This equipment is critical to advancing interdisciplinary collaborations and innovation across multiple fields. This equipment is vital to our group, as we cannot explore these mechanisms or train HQP without it. The upgrade will enhance our extensive HQP training program, providing hands-on training to a diverse group of trainees and fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion. This system will equip them with advanced imaging skills sought after in both academia and industry. The Vevo F2's advanced capabilities, including contrast-enhancement and photoacoustic imaging, will open new research directions and allow us to address more complex physiological questions.. Our current ultrasound system (Vevo2100), purchased over a decade ago, is now breaking down, disrupting research and HQP training. These breakdowns pose a significant problem, as the Vevo2100 was discontinued in 2019, and VisualSonics recently ended servicing it. The main board needs replacement to prevent total failure, but the cost is prohibitive. We rely on third-party repairs, but parts are scarce, and once the current stock is depleted, repairs will no longer be possible. VisualSonics has informed us that complete failure is imminent without an immediate upgrade.