Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2026

Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging for Assessment of Spinal Cord Blood Flow in Experimental Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: May 7, 2015
Measurement of blood flow to the vertebral bone and disc
S P Hughes1, A L Wallace, I D McCarthy
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Edinburgh, Scottland, UK.
Abstract:
Measurements of blood flow were made in the endplate and disc of the vertebrae in adult sheep. In anaesthetised animals, radioactively labelled microspheres were injected into the left ventricle and blood withdrawn from the brachial artery. The lumbar spine was then removed and sectioned to measure microsphere deposition. Blood flow in the bony endplate was found to be 4.22 +/- 0.59 ml/min 100 g, and flow of 0.57 +/- 0.29 ml/min 100 g was also measured in regions of the disc adjoining the endplate. No significant flow was recorded in the central region of the disc. This work has clinical significance in relation to spinal infections and also to the pathogenesis of degenerative disc disease.
Related Concept Videos
Blood Flow
Measurement of Blood Pressure
Blood and Nerve Supply to the Bones
Nutrient Artery
The nutrient artery is the main blood vessel that enters the diaphysis via the nutrient foramen. While most long bones have only one nutrient foramen, large bones, such as the femur, may have two. This...
Applications of Integration to Find Blood Flow
