Anesthesia and Analgesia in Laboratory Animals (Third Edition) - Chapter 29: Anesthesia for in vivo imaging studies: practical considerations for experimental outcomes and animal welfare

Imaging technologies are extensively used in biomedical research due to their remarkable scope for noninvasively studying biological processes in the living animal, providing a useful set of translational tools for studying disease models. Furthermore, they directly impact the 3Rs principles by enabling longitudinal studies with the acquisition of comprehensive anatomical, physiological, and functional parameters in real-time, thus reducing the number of animals used in serial studies. In contrast to human studies, imaging of animals generally requires anesthesia, which will influence animal physiology and may confound the image quality and interpretation. Hereby we describe how the imaging modalities impact animal physiology and discuss practical considerations to support appropriate animal handling, induction, and maintenance of anesthesia, and physiological monitoring during imaging to promote appropriate animal care and minimize potential confounding effects during imaging studies.