A novel rabbit fixator made of a thermoplastic mask for awake imaging experiments.

ABSTRACT: This study aimed to develop and validate a novel rabbit fixator made from a thermoplastic mask for awake imaging experiments. When heated in a hot-water bath at 65-70 °C for 2-5 min, the thermoplastic mask became soft and could be molded to fit over the entire body of an anesthetized rabbit (4 ml of 3% pentobarbital sodium solution by intramuscular injection). Twenty rabbits were randomly divided into fixator (n = 10) and anesthesia (n = 10) groups. The animals' vital signs, stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline), and subjective image quality scores for the computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning were measured and compared. Phantom CT, MRI and PET studies were performed to assess the performance with and without the the

SUBMITTER: Lu R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7810717 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature