In Vivo and Simultaneously Acquired Endoluminal Ultrasound Biomicroscopic and Colonoscopic Images of Inflamed Mouse Colon and Wall Thickness Measurement

Colon cancer has a high incidence, without considering skin cancer, being the third most common cancer in the world. Despite this high incidence and high mortality rate, most of the outcomes could be prevented by using accurate techniques for early cancer detection to enable early treatment. In this context, it is important to conduct preclinical studies, using animal models of colon diseases, to understand the development of the disease and to test new diagnostic approaches including imaging instrumentation. We have previously used a 3-French ultrasound mini-probe to image the layered structure in the mouse colon, to detect polyps, and to visualize their invasion through the colon wall. The present work aimed to measure the colon wall thickness and perform a numeric differentiation between the thickness of normal and inflamed mouse colon, a crucial step to elucidate the disease progression in colorectal cancer mouse model.