Researchers on the MultiSim project are trying to find ways to reduce animal testing in preclinical trials by using computer models and medical imaging.
Using in silico methods, MultiSim researchers conducted a longitudinal study on mice investigating the effect of parathyroid hormone treatment, Teriparatide. Teriparatide is an intervention that is approved for the treatment of osteoporosis. The effects of Teriparatide on the bones of the same colony of mice were observed over eight weeks using noninvasive imaging and engineering methods. To achieve the same results using standard techniques several mice would need to be culled.
The study was conducted by Dr Enrico Dall’Ara, Professor Ilaria Bellantuono, and Professor Marco Viceconti of the MultiSim project, based at the University of Sheffield’s Insigneo Institute in collaboration with the NC3Rs, a UK-based scientific organisation dedicated to replacing, refining and reducing the use of animals in research and testing (the 3Rs).
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