For the past 7 years we have been measuring atherosclerosis in murine models of the human disease, constantly honing our methods for quantitating the atherosclerotic response of mice that have been genetically, dietarily or pharmaceutically manipulated to help understand and control the disease process.

With the advent of genetically modified mouse models, investigators now have more robust atherosclerotic responses to quantitate. The surface area of lesions along the entire length of the aorta is a key parameter used to evaluate these responses. We routinely perform quantitative morphometry of intimal atherosclerotic lesions in pinned-out mouse aortas, also called en face lesion analysis.

The number and scale of mouse atherosclerosis studies has increased beyond the capacity of our core laboratory to provide service. While the “wet” processes involved in preparing vascular tissue for atherosclerosis analysis have already been streamlined, we found considerable scope for improving the computer-dependent “back-end” of the analysis.