Mammary Window Chamber Model: A Platform For Multi-Modality Cancer Imaging And Dynamic Oxygenation Assessment
type: CreativeWork
description: Window chamber models have served as a tool for optically visualizing a tissue environment over time. Their use throughout the years has furthered the study of cancer. However, optical imaging techniques utilized with the model are limited in the depth from which light can penetrate and signal can be received. Further, ectopic placement of a xenograft in a model animal may modify the relevancy of findings by altering the normal environmental conditions. In the first section of the dissertation, improvements on the traditional window chamber model are described in the context of enabling multiple imaging modalities (optical, MR and nuclear) to be complementarily applied. The developed model, specifically geared toward breast cancer, is orthotopic and supports uninhibited tumor growth into the body of the animal. The three main imaging modalities applied provide unique strengths in obtaining information from the model system. Optical imaging allows for use of targeted fluorescent contrast agents, as well as sufficient resolution to visualize individual cells and capillaries. Magnetic resonance imaging provides the possibility of acquiring quantitative information about tumor morphology as well as a variety of physiological processes. This can be accomplished over the entire 3D volume of the tumor. Nuclear imaging provides functional and/or metabolic information using radiolabeled agents. The MWC model provides a platform for more specifically focused cancer imaging approaches to be applied and tested. The presence of hypoxia in tumors has a broad impact on cancer development and treatment. Current oxygenation assessment methods for longitudinally following spatially resolved oxygen changes over time are lacking. The development and testing of an oxygen sensitive porphyrin coating used in conjunction with the mammary window chamber model is detailed in the second section of the dissertation. Three different modulations were applied to induce physiologic oxygenation cha…
abstract: Window chamber models have served as a tool for optically visualizing a tissue environment over time. Their use throughout the years has furthered the study of cancer. However, optical imaging techniques utilized with the model are limited in the depth from which light can penetrate and signal can be received. Further, ectopic placement of a xenograft in a model animal may modify the relevancy of findings by altering the normal environmental conditions. In the first section of the dissertation, improvements on the traditional window chamber model are described in the context of enabling multiple imaging modalities (optical, MR and nuclear) to be complementarily applied. The developed model, specifically geared toward breast cancer, is orthotopic and supports uninhibited tumor growth into the body of the animal. The three main imaging modalities applied provide unique strengths in obtaining information from the model system. Optical imaging allows for use of targeted fluorescent contrast agents, as well as sufficient resolution to visualize individual cells and capillaries. Magnetic resonance imaging provides the possibility of acquiring quantitative information about tumor morphology as well as a variety of physiological processes. This can be accomplished over the entire 3D volume of the tumor. Nuclear imaging provides functional and/or metabolic information using radiolabeled agents. The MWC model provides a platform for more specifically focused cancer imaging approaches to be applied and tested. The presence of hypoxia in tumors has a broad impact on cancer development and treatment. Current oxygenation assessment methods for longitudinally following spatially resolved oxygen changes over time are lacking. The development and testing of an oxygen sensitive porphyrin coating used in conjunction with the mammary window chamber model is detailed in the second section of the dissertation. Three different modulations were applied to induce physiologic oxygenation cha…
author: Schafer, Rachel Lynn
language: en_US
keywords: Biomedical Engineering
date published: 2015
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:55:23Z
provider: University of Arizona
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Arizona.

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/556436