Evaluation of acoustic wave propagation velocities in the ocular lens and vitreous tissues of pigs, dogs, and rabbits

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate propagation velocity of acoustic waves through the lens and vitreous body of pigs, dogs, and rabbits and determine whether there were associations between acoustic wave speed and age, temperature, and time after enucleation. SAMPLE POPULATION: 9 pig, 40 dog, and 20 rabbit lenses and 16 pig, 17 dog, and 23 rabbit vitreous bodies. PROCEDURE: Acoustic wave velocities through the ocular structures were measured by use of the substitution technique. RESULTS: Mean sound wave velocities in lenses of pigs, dogs, and rabbits were 1,681, 1,707, and 1,731 m/s, respectively, at 36 degrees C. Mean sound wave velocities in the vitreous body of pigs, dogs, and rabbits were 1,535, 1,535, and 1,534 m/s, respectively, at 38 degrees C. The sound wave speed through the vitreous humor, but not the lens, increased linearly with temperature. An association between wave speed and age was observed in the rabbit tissues. Time after enucleation did not affect the velocity of sound in the lens or vitreous body. The sound wave speed conversion factors for lenses, calculated with respect to human ocular tissue at 36 degrees C, were 1.024, 1.040, and 1.055 for pig, dog, and rabbit lenses, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Conversion factors for the speed of sound through lens tissues are needed to avoid underestimation of the thickness of the lens and axial length of the eye in dogs during comparative A-mode ultrasound examinations. These findings are important for accurate calculation of intraocular lens power required to achieve emmetropia in veterinary patients after surgical lens extraction.     

QUANTITATIVE CONTRAST HARMONIC ULTRASOUND IMAGING OF NORMAL CANINE LIVER

Eight adult dogs with no evidence of liver disease, weighing between 8 and 25 kg were imaged after injection of a microbubble contrast medium using harmonic ultrasound imaging. All dogs received three separate bolus contrast injections, and six dogs also received three separate constant rate infusions each. Time/Mean Pixel Value curves were generated for selected regions of the liver. Upslope, downslope, baseline, peak, change, and time to peak were calculated. For bolus injection (averaging all subjects), upslope was 3.85 +/- 1.50 Mean Pixel Values/s, downslope was -0.71 +/- 0.30 Mean Pixel Values/s, baseline was 72.38 +/- 17.82 Mean Pixel Values, peak was 120.26 +/- 17.44 Mean Pixel Value, change from baseline to peak was 47.88 +/- 6.92 Mean Pixel Values, time to peak (from injection) was 22.88 +/- 6.79 s, and time to peak (from first upslope) was 13.88 +/- 1.55 s. Data acquisition and analysis from constant rate infusions was more cumbersome than for bolus, and results were less repeatable. There were significant differences (p < .005) in upslope, downslope, peak values, and time to peak between the two methods. These baseline data may prove useful in the evaluation of dogs with diffuse hepatic disease.     

THE EFFECT OF BODY WALL ON VIDEO SIGNAL ANALYSIS MEASUREMENTS

Rectangular body wall specimens were extracted from 16 juvenile swine and 9 adult beagle hounds after euthanasia. The body wall specimen included the epidermis to parietal membrane, with falciform fat removed. Ten images of a reference phantom with known attenuation and 10 additional images of the phantom with the specimen placed between the transducer and phantom surface were collected with a 5-MHz ultrasound system and computer with frame grabber board. Mean pixel values were converted to relative echogenicities. Echogenicity versus depth yielded an estimate of attenuation. An unpaired t test was applied to compare reference attenuation values with and without body wall, and a Pearson correlation was applied to body wall parameters versus measured attenuation through body wall. Measured attenuation through body wall increased significantly in dogs (P = 0.0016) and swine (P < 0.0001) when compared with phantom material alone. Increased attenuation positively correlated to body wall thickness (r = 0.6442) and mean gray level within body wall (r = 0.5069) for swine but not in canine. The presence of body wall in images used for video signal analysis significantly increases the measured attenuation in a phantom. This increase does not correlate with a measurable body wall parameter in dogs.