infocus #11 September 2008 Tomographic Modelling of Casted Blood Vascular Systems

Tomographic modeling of vascular corrosion casts provides accurate, quantifiable three dimensional information regarding blood vessel systems and hold great promise for understanding the blood supply to normal and diseased tissues. Wagner and Hossler explains how these casts can be achieved.

DOI: 10.22443/rms.inf.1.35

The three dimensional architecture of blood vascular systems is intimately associated with their function of irrigating the tissues they serve. These blood vessels, down to the smallest capillaries, can be injected with a plastic polymer which rapidly polymerizes into a cast of the blood space within them. After corrosion of the surrounding tissue, a hardened replica is left which accurately represents the essential geometry of the vessel system. Examination of these casts with a scanning electron microscope reveals images of striking clarity and depth.

However, they cannot be viewed from every angle and interior vessels are often hidden. Also due to parallax when tilting, accurate measurement of the casts is difficult. The casting material has properties which permit tomographic acquisition of three dimensional data sets by laser confocal microscopy and Micro-CT (CAT Scans). These data sets can be surface rendered to produce 3D models which can be rotated and examined from any perspective. Interior vessels of compact capillary systems can be visualized by skeletonization of the model which is an accurate representation of the entire network. Since three dimensional data is precisely quantifiable, important parameters such as blood space volume, internal vessel surface area, vessel length and number of vessel intercepts can be computed. These approaches hold promise for a more detailed appreciation of tissue vascularizaton as well as for analysis of abnormal circulation in diseased tissues.

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Authors

Roger C. Wagner

Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, University of Delaware

Dr. Roger Wagner received his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Minnesota. He was a post doctoral fellow at the Yale Medical School and has been on the faculty in Biological Sciences at the University of Delaware since 1973. He retired in 2005 and is presently Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences.

Fred E. Hossler

Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology, East Tennessee State University College of Medicine

Dr. Fred Hossler received his Ph.D. in Pathobiology from the University of Colorado. He was a postdoctoral fellow along with Dr. Wagner at Yale. He was on the faculty of the LSU Medical Center and has been Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the East Tennessee State University College of Medicine since 1981.