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In vivo measurements of blood flow in a rat using X-ray imaging technique

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Abstract

To measure instantaneous velocity fields of venous blood flow in a rat using X-ray particle tracking method. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) incorporated chitosan microparticles were applied as biocompatible flow tracers. After intravenous injection of the AuNP-chitosan particles into 7- to 9-week-old male rat vein, X-ray images of particle movement inside the cranial vena cava were consecutively captured. Individual AuNP-chitosan particles in the venous blood flow were clearly observed, and the corresponding velocity vectors were successfully extracted. The measured velocity vectors are in good agreement with the theoretical velocity profile suggested by Casson. This is the first trial to measure blood flow in animals under in vivo conditions with X-ray imaging technique. The results show that X-ray particle tracking technique has a great potential for in vivo measurements of blood flow, which can extend to various biomedical applications related with the diagnosis of circulatory vascular diseases.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Creative Research Initiatives (Diagnosis of Biofluid Flow Phenomena and Biomimic Research) and the WCU program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (R31-2008-000-10105-0). The authors are grateful for the valuable help in the X-ray imaging experiments performed at the 1B2 and 7B2 beamlines of Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (Pohang, Korea).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), San 31, Hyojadong, Pohang, 790-784, South Korea

    Sung Yong Jung & Sang Joon Lee

  2. Center for Biofluid and Biomimic Research, POSTECH, San 31, Hyojadong, Pohang, 790-784, South Korea

    Sung Yong Jung, Sungsook Ahn, Kweon Ho Nam, Jin Pyung Lee & Sang Joon Lee

  3. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, POSTECH, San 31, Hyojadong, Pohang, 790-784, South Korea

    Jin Pyung Lee & Sang Joon Lee

  4. Division of Integrative Biosciences and Biotechnology, POSTECH, San 31, Hyojadong, Pohang, 790-784, South Korea

    Sang Joon Lee

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  1. Sung Yong Jung
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  2. Sungsook Ahn
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  3. Kweon Ho Nam
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Correspondence to Sang Joon Lee.

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Jung, S.Y., Ahn, S., Nam, K.H. et al. In vivo measurements of blood flow in a rat using X-ray imaging technique. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 28, 1853–1858 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-012-0029-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-012-0029-1

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