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Detection of microvasculature in rat hind limb using synchrotron radiation
Weifeng Lu1, Zhihui Dong, Zhenjie Liu
1Department of Vascular Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Background:
New X-ray microangiography and third-generation synchrotron radiation-based micro-computed tomography have opened new perspectives for microvascular imaging of extremity. Here we aimed to visualize deep-level microvascular structure in rat hind limb by microangiographic technique, and compare images with those by conventional method.
Materials And Methods:
A total of 10 Sprague Dawley rats were used for in vivo and ex vivo study (five rats/group). Microangiography in vivo and ex vivo was performed and images were compared with those by conventional method. Synchrotron radiation-based micro-computed tomography (SRμCT) was also performed to reveal three-dimensional (3D) morphology of the blood vessel in rat hind limb.
Results:
By microangiographic technique, blood vessels in the rat limb could be clearly depicted with the minimum visualized blood vessel about 9 μm in diameter, and higher angiographic scores were achieved than those by conventional X-ray. In addition, the vascular network could be defined and analyzed at the micrometer scale from the 3D renderings of limb vessel as shown by SRμCT.
Conclusions:
Synchrotron radiation-based microangiography and SRμCT thus provided a practical and effective means to observe the microvasculature of limbs, which might be useful in assessment of angiogenesis in lower limbs.
