Gestacional diagnose in laboratory rats: Review

Abstract

Rats have been used for decades as model of experimente in the laboratory due to the fact it shows the best representation of the functions of human sistems when compared of the others mammals, since it has similar physiological response. It cycle of live and reproductive are short, which make it the central object of behavioral, toxicological, reproductive and biomedical studies. Because of that, a diagnosis more correct and quickly it is necessary, as well as the confirmation of numbers, age and the embryological development, which couldn’t be achieved through the convencional methodology adopted nowadays. Although the ultrasound is considered a noninvasive technique and widely used in the medical clinic, its uses in experimentation animals it is still scarce, as well as the published researches about the subject.