Flow dependent changes in the effective surface area of microdialysis probes.

The relative efficiencies of microdialysis probes were determined both in vitro and in vivo using tritiated water. Tritiated water (THO) freely distributes throughout the fluid spaces of an experimental animal and, at equilibrium, the brain extracellular concentration of THO is the same as the plasma concentration. Microdialysis probes were inserted into the right caudoputamen of anesthetized rats. The rats were injected with THO and after one hour microdialysis samples were collected at flow rates between 0.2 and 10.0 ul/min. The in vitro relative efficiency for THO was computed as the ratio of the THO concentration in the dialysate to that of the solution the probe was immersed in. The in vivo relative efficiency was computed as the ratio of the concentration of THO in the brain dialysate to that measured in the plasma of the rat. Both the in vitro and in vivo relative efficiencies for THO decrease with increasing flow rates, but they differ from each other except at very low flow rates (less than 0.25 ul/min). The in vitro relative efficiency at a given probe flow is the maximum efficiency that can be attained in vivo at that flow. The surface of effective exchange (Se) is the fraction of that maximum which is attained in vivo. This study also demonstrates how the effective surface area can be computed at any probe flow rate and how it can be used as a correction factor.