Intrathecal injections are crucial for delivering aesthetic, analgesic, or chemotherapy medications to the central nervous system because they allow them to pass the blood-brain barrier. The inability to see the tiny target zone during injection makes it difficult to administer medications via this route in animal studies. Therefore, knowledge of the indirect assessment of vertebral and spinal cord architecture as well as the acquisition of advanced procedural skills is necessary for successful medication delivery. These problems are further exacerbated in studies modelling paediatric drug administration, where the animal is significantly smaller, and in studies using small animals like mice. New approach we have created a technique that uses high-frequency ultrasound imaging to visualise and target the lumbar intrathecal region for injections in order to solve these problems. The method is demonstrated in mice starting on the day after birth. Gadolinium-based magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent was intrathecal administered to test the approach, and the subsequent brain delivery was later confirmed by MRI. The brain was distributed by the MRI contrast agent after successful intrathecal injections. In this investigation, we managed to target 20 animals with an 80% success rate. Conclusion: The new method is anticipated to be more reliable than unguided approaches and convenient for drug delivery to the central nervous system in rodent research. This is a crucial advancement that will enable intrathecal delivery in paediatric mouse models.
KeywordsIntrathecal; Mouse; Ultrasound; Magnetic resonance imaging; Central nervous system; Drug delivery
Published Date: 2023-05-28; Received Date: 2023-04-03
