Studying murine hindlimb ischemia by photoacoustic microscopy

The murine model of hindlimb ischemia is extensively used in studies on the physiology and pathology of ischemia and angiogenesis. Traditional non-invasive evaluation methods, such as laser or ultrasound blood flow perfusion imaging and micro-CT angiography, are limited either by low resolution or toxic exogenous agents. Relying on intrinsic high optical absorption contrast, we conduct label-free imaging of subcutaneous blood vasculature in the hindlimb of murine models by photoacoustic microscopy (PAM). The angiogenesis induced by ischemia in the hindlimb is successfully observed at high resolution in vivo and non-invasively. PAM is a potentially powerful imaging method for studying ischemic diseases and resultant angiogenesis.