In Vivo Mouse Abdominal Oxygen Imaging And Assessment of Subcutaneously Implanted Beta Cell Replacement Devices.

purposeType 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease that leads to the loss of insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. Beta cell replacement devices or bioartificial pancreas (BAP) have shown promise in curing T1D and providing long-term insulin independence without the need for immunosuppressants. Hypoxia in BAP devices damages cells and imposes limitations on device dimensions. Noninvasive in vivo oxygen imaging assessment of implanted BAP devices will provide the necessary feedback and improve the chances of success. Pulse-mode electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) oxygen imaging (EPROI) using injectable trityl OX071 as the oxygen-sensitive agent is an excellent technique for obtaining partial oxygen pressure (pO

methodsAll EPROI experiments were performed using a 25 mT EPROI instrument, JIVA-25®. For in vivo EPROI experiments, trityl OX071, a whole-body mouse resonator (∅32 mm × 35 mm), C57BL6 mice, and the inversion recovery electron spin echo (IRESE) pulse sequence were utilized. We investigated the signal amplitude and pO

resultsWe established that mouse abdominal pO

conclusionsIn vivo EPROI is a reliable technique for mouse abdominal oxygen imaging and longitudinal assessment of subcutaneously implanted BAP devices noninvasively. This work reports abdominal oxygen imaging in the mouse model and demonstrates its application for the assessment of BAP devices. Even though the application focus of this work was on cell therapy, the techniques developed will have a much broader use in the biomedical field.