In vivo biomechanical imaging of the mouse oviduct

The mammalian oviduct is a tubular organ with a transport function that is critical for natural pregnancy. The smooth muscle contraction is an essential biomechanical property of the oviduct, playing an important role in enabling the transport of oocytes and preimplantation embryos. Assessment of the contractile dynamics together with the oocyte/embryo movement is required to elucidate the pumping mechanism underlying the oviduct transport function, which is critical to uncover the functional cause of oviduct-related reproductive disorders, such as ectopic pregnancy. Here, we present an in vivo approach for measuring the radial strain of the mouse oviduct during its contraction.