Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026

Non-invasive Optical Imaging of the Lymphatic Vasculature of a Mouse
Published on: March 8, 2013
Primo vascular system in the lymph vessel from the inguinal to the axillary nodes
Seung Hwan Lee1, Kyoung-Hee Bae, Geum Ock Kim
1Nano Primo Research Center, Advanced Institute of Convergence Technology, Seoul National University, Suwon 443-270, Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
The primo vascular system (PVS) in a lymph system was observed mostly in large caliber ducts around the caudal vena cava of rabbits, rats, and mice. This required a severe surgery with laparectomy and massive removal of fat tissues in the abdomen to expose the lymph vessel. In the current brief report, we presented a new method to evade these shortcomings by observing the PVS in a less large caliber duct in the skin, that is, the lymph vessel from the inguinal to the axillary nodes. The Alcian blue injection into the inguinal node revealed the desired primo vessel in the target lymph vessel. This opened a new perspective for the investigation of the lymphatic PVS without severe damage to subject animals and for monitoring of the PVS in a long period of time.
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