Visikol® TOX™

Visikol® TOX™2019-06-10T12:05:33-05:00
  • Non-destructive and rapid visualization
  • 2-6 day specimen processing
  • Reduced oversight
  • Non-toxic reagents

Background on skeletal visualization in DART studies

Since Alden Benjamin Dawson first published the concept of skeletal visualization with KOH and Alizarin in 1926, the process has largely been unchanged. CRO’s and researchers utilize this digestive process to render biological tissues transparent so that they can easily visualize skeletal features. While this process has been the gold-standard for over 90 years, it is a slow and tedious process that requires constant oversight. To improve this process, we have leveraged our proprietary Visikol tissue clearing technology to create Visikol TOX that enables rapid skeletal visualization without tissue destruction.

Equivalency Study

Visikol TOX Overview

KOH vs. Visikol TOX

Protocols

We have developed customized protocols for the three fetal animals commonly used in developmental and reproductive toxicology studies. While using these protocols, pay close attention to the timing involved, make sure to use DI water for mixing, make your staining solution with fresh alizarin and make sure that your fetal samples are fully submerged in the solutions. If you are using jars for your processing, make sure they are routinely shaken during processing.

Beyond skeletal visualization

Optical CT

With Visikol’s improvements in the processing of animal skeletons for evaluation, many researchers ask us if we can also improve the evaluation of these specimens. Digitizing and automating skeletal evaluation with Optical CT is a an active area of research for our team.

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