Lung Instillation and Fixation: Introducing Liquid into the Trachea and Fixing Lungs to Measure the Fixed Lung Volume

Abstract

Source: Limjunyawong, N. et al, Instillation and Fixation Methods Useful in Mouse Lung Cancer Research. J. Vis. Exp. (2015).

This video describes a simple and reliable method of introducing liquid into the trachea for lung instillation, fixation, and lung volume measurement.

Protocol

All procedures involving animals have been reviewed by the local institutional animal care committee and the JoVE veterinary review board.

1. Lung Instillation

1. Select a commercial one-inch long 20 g intravenous cannula to use for the intubation.
2. Modify the catheter tip manually bending it to generate a slight curvature at the tip as illustrated in Figure 1.
3. Anesthetize the mouse with a mixture of ketamine (100 mg/kg) and xylazine (15 mg/kg) injected IP, and confirm anesthesia by the absence of reflex motion. Apply veterinary ointment on the eyes immediately after anesthesia. ....

Results

Figure 1: Intravenous catheter with slightly curved tip used for instillation.

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Laboratory Balance	Ohaus	Adventurer Pro Model AV 313	Other balances can be used if they have a range of 1-300 g
20 g Luer intravenous catheter	Insylte		Several other possible vendors, e.g., Jelco Optiva
500 ml laboratory bottle	Various		Several other possible vendors