Dear Lisa

I wrote an article "Improving intravenous injection in black mice". It is available on the webpage of the Swiss 3R Network after (free) registration (http://swiss3rnetwork.org/article/improving-intravenous-injection-black-mice/). I hope you will find it useful.

Regards, Juerg

PS: Meanwhile, the article has been uploaded to ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278405652_Improving_intravenous_injection_in_black_mice

Article Improving intravenous injection in black mice

Some 70% alcohol may help.

Use the insulin needle may help.

It is harder than injecting white mice for sure.

I learned that hitting with IR lamps makes vain much more swollen than water or regular white lamp.

There is another rout of administration into the eye socket (where you draw blood from) but i never tried it.

other than that just need to pratice pratice pratice.

You also have the option to use a heat plate, leave the mice you want to inject there for 5 minutes and the injection will be much easier. When you get some practice it will be much easier

We usually expose the mice to the lamp which dilate the vein and makes injection easier. Alternatively, you can also use a beaker containing boil water to dilate the mouse vain. Besides, Ehud also have mentioned to perform retro-orbital injection which is very easy to perform.

Thanks for all the advice. I was using 70% ethanol and an insulin syringe, so I guess I will just have to practice and get use to how it looks.

Dear Lisa, 1) you should use insulin siringe and needle; 2) you can heat mouse tail in warm (40C) water during 3-4 min before injection. To do injections easier, use the tool called Tailveiner. Here is the link: http://www.bioseb.com/bioseb/anglais/default/item_id=120_cat_id=_Tailveiner.php

My advice to you, inject into retroorbital venous sinus. This is very much easier. Correct writing of mouse strain name is C57BL/6.

Once you've warmed the mice, make sure you have a really good light source for the injection, you could also try a pair of cheap, off the shelf, reading glasses.

It also helps to have a restraint that can be easily rotated so that you can position the tail so that the vein is uppermost, then you can turn the mouse 180 degrees and try the vein on the opposite side if you fail to find it on the first side.

Perhaps we should lobby the breeders to create an albino C57BL/6, it would make life so much easier.

I am doing IV injection almost everyday and about 99% works great. I always use 70% Ethonal， and the insulin syringe is not good for IV injection, in my opinion,  i always use 30G1/2 needle, you just keep the needle parallel with the tail and inject. Keep practicing and make sure smaller the angle, easier injection.

You can also use a mini heat pad - like, hand warmers can be used to warm up the anesthetizing chamber or their bodies in general, in addition to warm water and the lamp to dilate their vein. I use 27.5 G needles to get to the vein (not for bone marrow - just for tail vein and collecting blood) and they work fine too. 

Dear Lisa,

I had success using Ethanol and a lamp to dilate the vein. Also used insulin (500 ul) syringe. Considering you might not succeed in the first shot, I would start from the middle of the tail - so you can move closer to the body and try again (or try another vein and  the artery, too). Good luck!

Dear Lisa

I wrote an article "Improving intravenous injection in black mice". It is available on the webpage of the Swiss 3R Network after (free) registration (http://swiss3rnetwork.org/article/improving-intravenous-injection-black-mice/). I hope you will find it useful.

Regards, Juerg

PS: Meanwhile, the article has been uploaded to ResearchGate, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278405652_Improving_intravenous_injection_in_black_mice

Article Improving intravenous injection in black mice

I personally have problems at that Point where I Switch grip on the Syringe to inject when the needle is already in the vein. This movement often moves the needle a little and I feel that I often loose the vein there. Any suggestions?

You could rub some ethanol on the tail. Also The B6 mice should not be older than 10 weeks, because after that the skin thickens and it is more difficult to see the tail vein. Another thing you could try is do BMTs via retro-orbital injections. 

Swollen tail vein is the most critical thing for success and secondly, I do not use a needle that has poked more than twice because a blunt end is not worth it. 

In the mouse strainer, position the mouse sideways and lock. This will align the tail vein with your syringe. Place the tail on top your index finger and bend it with the thumb. I inject the cells right over the bend with the syringe in parallel with the tail and superficial on the tail vein. I prefer the open end of the syringe facing up. A successful needle entry should feel smooth and without resistance. If you feel resistance, draw out. Try again, the needle should just glide into the vein if properly done. 

Patience is the key besides a warm tail. If the tail gets cold, do not even think about the injection. Practice.

If anyone still need guidance or have some question to ask , feel free to knock me at [email protected]

Best regards,

Babu M.

you can use xylene to dilate the vein, just swab it on mice tail and use insulin syringe with minimum angle (about 15 degree) to withdraw the blood or intravenous inoculation. It surely works.

vijay

Entry of the needle is approximately at a 45° angle ; the tail is bent slightly so the approach angle of the needle is almost parallel to the vein If the needle is in the vein, the plunger moves easily and the dark colored vein clears as the saline is injected

Medilumine offers a tail-vein injection training course and injection service. It is worth looking in to.

https://www.medilumine.com/tail-vein-injection-training-course/

https://www.medilumine.com/tail-vein-injection-service/

It would be best to use the technology available

http://animalab.eu/products/illuminated-tail-vein-unit,

along with the input provided above.

When I encountered the same question. I just wanted the specific diode/ LED bulb of specific wavelength light emitter which will trans illuminate the veins.

But its tough to figure out the LED bulbs used in these transilluminator units as they consider it to be proprietary information.

If anyone have input on these specifics of optics, please furnish the information.

https://www.veinlite.com/veinlite-ems-pro?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlqugm4354gIVF_5kCh0mmAahEAQYBCABEgID6PD_BwE

Warm water is most easiest way for tail vein injection. you can inject without warm water (is my personal experience), if you experienced.

But please note that you should inject the dose in first attempt itself, otherwise its very difficult because of the inflammation (if two or more prick).

Does anybody know if it is possible/okay to do daily later tail vein injections?

Haylie Romero Yes we can do

Thank you. Is there a greater risk for tail damage?

No, if you use hot water for vein dilation it may affect other than that no problem