Blood microcirculation is a complex network that transports blood to tissues and organs through tiny blood vessels. When this mechanism functions properly, cells receive the oxygen and nutrients they required to stay healthy, while metabolic waste products are efficiently reshiftd.
Any alteration in this network, whether structural or functional, can have serious clinical consequences, including heart failure, kidney failure and various chronic diseases. However, there is currently no imaging method that can visualise microcirculation and assess the integrity of the entire circulatory system, from the large arteries to the finest arterioles, at the level of the whole organ.
With this issue in mind, the Institute of Physics for Medicine (Inserm/ESPCI Paris-PSL/CNRS) research team has developed the first tool capable of producing these images . It is a new type of ultrasound probe, developed as part of Nabil Haidour’s thesis work, under the supervision of Clément Papadacci (Inserm researcher). Using this technology, scientists have been able to map the vascularisation and quantify the blood flow dynamics of three essential organs – the heart, kidney and liver – in animal models of comparable size to humans, all with unprecedented image resolution.
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