Fig. 9.

Myocardial contrast imaging. A: long-axis view of mouse ventricle before contrast injection. Image was captured in nonlinear contrast mode that eliminates tissue signal to identify contrast signal after a bolus injection. Contrast agent was administered via the tail vein. B: long-axis view of mouse ventricle after contrast injection (50-μl bolus injection). Contrast agent is seen in the cavity as well as in the AW and PW, which have been outlined in the image. C: intensity changes in myocardium after a bolus injection. Two regions of interest (PW and AW) are outlined, and the increase in intensity due to contrast uptake is plotted. Various types of perfusion kinetics may be extrapolated from these types of graphs. Images were acquired using the Vevo 2100 ultrasound system (Visualsonics). AU, arbitrary units.