Stroboscopic NMR microscopy of the carotid artery

Abstract

THE non-invasive measurement of vascular dynamics and elasticity is critical in understanding haemodynamic conditions of cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and atherosclerosis¹. Although there are numerous invasive and in vitro techniques² for such measurements, until now non-invasive methods have been limited³. We have now obtained stroboscopic NMR images^4,5 of the carotid arteries of 80-g rats. The change in the cross-sectional area of arteries of diameter ˜600–800 ptm was correlated with the change in absolute blood pressure. These are the first microimages^6–9 of a dynamic system and enable the direct visualization of compliance, the non-invasive measurement of Young's modulus, the direct determination of the local effects of vasoconstrictors and vasodilators and the mapping of the entire cardiac cycle.