Using the CT scan for assessment of organs and tissues of laboratory animals
Computed tomography (CT) of organs and tissues of the experimental animals is one of the most promising diagnostic tool both in terms of a more complete picture of the disease, and from the standpoint of the humane treatment of animals. CT allows evaluation of intravital lesions, to study the dynamics of the disease and the effectiveness of treatment without the need euthanasia of animals at all interested in the control points of the experiment. At the same time, the use of CT greatly enhances understanding of the localization of various lesions, their degree of severity and pathogenesis of the disease allows to obtain reliable data, correlated with the results of conventional morphological studies in real-time. The use of CT shows positive results in the diagnosis of pathological conditions of the musculoskeletal system, blood vessels, tumor processes in laboratory animals. The advantages of CT should include non-invasive methods, the lack of use of a contrast agent (except for high-resolution imaging), the speed of research, diagnostic accuracy, the ability to visualize the entire internal threedimensional structure of an object with full model for other types of research. The use of CT allows the study of pharmacodynamics in vivo, imaging bioluminescence and biochemical changes in living cells of animals, morphometric studies, screening of PET and SPECT probes, use, development and validation samples and biomarker monitoring of cell migration in vitro and in vivo, which can be recommended CT as a basic morphological analysis and evaluation of organs and tissues of animals in preclinical studies of drugs.