Noninvasive visualization of microvessels using diffraction enhanced imaging.

The architecture of the vascular network is crucial because almost every disease alters the morphology of the blood vessel. Although existing imaging technique can provide vessel images, microvessels will not be discerned without the use of contrast agents. Furthermore, conventional imaging technique can only provide the outline of the vessels due to the restriction of spatial resolution. In this study, a novel imaging technique, diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI), is applied to the observation of microvessels in mouse hepatic fibrosis samples. With high spatial resolution and contrast of biological soft tissues, DEI is a non-invasive synchrotron-based imaging technique and does not require contrast agents. Particularly, this article highlights the exploration of the objects inside microvessels. A segment of blood vessel, which is obstructed by a blood clot, is under quantitative assessment and the result provides a precise description of vessel stenosis. Additionally, as one of the application of the diffraction enhanced imaging, blood stream simulation is carried out on the three-dimensional model of the vessel. It proves that this imaging technique has great value in evaluating hemodynamics and histopathology of microvascular diseases.