Comparison of Faxitron™ versus MicroCT imaging of the skeleton of the suckling rat

Currently, in pre and postnatal development studies or in juvenile rat studies, bone growth is assessed “for cause” by simple measurements of long bone length in vivo and at termination. This manuscript compares two radiographic methods for in vivo assessment of long bones in suckling rats; 2D imaging using a Faxitron™ and 3D imaging using μCT. This paper illustrates that it is possible to image the unanaesthetised postnatal day 1 rat by Faxitron™ using a simple Micropore™ tape restraint method. With isoflurane anaesthesia, it was possible to obtain high quality μCT images of pups from day of birth. No pups were rejected by their mothers following either technique. The Faxitron™ was straightforward and fast, however the μCT 3D images were of greater overall utility. Either method could be used for longitudinal investigation of long bone observations made previously in embryofetal development studies, or for other mechanistic work.