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Updated: Aug 31, 2025
A Full Skin Defect Model to Evaluate Vascularization of Biomaterials In Vivo
Published on: August 28, 2014
Use of new microcirculation software allows the demonstration of dermis vascularization
Orlando Catalano1, Antonio Corvino2, Luigi Basile3
1Radiology Unit, Istituto Diagnostico Varelli, via Cornelia dei Gracchi 65, 80126, Naples, Italy. orlando.catalano@istitutovarelli.it.
Aims:
Current ultrasound (US) Doppler techniques cannot demonstrate the vascularization of the dermis. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the new Superb Vascular Imaging (SMI) and Microvascular Flow (MV-Flow) techniques improve the detection of normal dermis vessels. SMI and MV-Flow were compared side-by-side to conventional power-Doppler (PD) imaging.
Methods:
By using US, 50 healthy volunteers were evaluated at level of five body areas: forehead, forearm, palm, buttock, and thigh. Two off-site operators evaluated the images to assess the difference between SMI and PD imaging and between MV-Flow and PD imaging in terms of dermis flow amount. A 0-3 scoring system was adopted.
Results:
SMI scored grade 0 in 0% of body areas, grade 1 in 58%, grade 2 in 33%, and grade 3 in 9%. In comparison with SMI, PD scored grade 0 in 38% of body areas, grade 1 in 56%, grade 2 in 6%, and grade 3 in 0%. MV-Flow scored grade 0 in 0% of body areas, grade 1 in 52%, grade 2 in 43%, and grade 3 in 6%. Comparted to MV-Flow, PD scored grade 0 in 53% of body areas, grade 1 in 34%, grade 2 in 13%, and grade 3 in 0%. The difference in terms of sensitivity was statistically significant for all the body areas investigated.
Conclusions:
We found both SMI and MV-Flow to be superior to PD imaging and capable to demonstrate normal vascularization of the dermis.
