Biomedical subjects

Gert E Nilsson

Publications and source records attributed to Gert E Nilsson.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Volumetric flow mapping for microvascular networks by bimodality imaging with light microscope and Laser Doppler imager.

A method was developed to produce a composite image of microvascular networks with grayscales proportional to volumetric flows. Velocities in arterioles and venules were assessed with a high-resolution laser Doppler imager (LDI). The vascular structures were quantified from the micrograph with a computerized vessel detection algorithm. After registering the detected vascular network with the LDI scan, volumetric flows were calculated along the centerlines of the vessels. In vivo data were obtained from the hamster cheek pouch in 6 studies. Flow continuity of the flow map was evaluated by comparing the main flow (Q) with the sum of branch flows (Qs), averaging over the respective vessel segments incident to each bifurcation. The method was reproducible across the 6 studies with the correlation coefficient (r) between Qs and Q ranging from 0.913 to 0.986. In all, over 20,000 flow estimates from 360 vessel segments (24-160 microm in diameter) at 166 bifurcations were analyzed. With flow normalized between 0 and 1, the linear regression yielded: Qs = 1.03 Q + 0.006; r = 0.952, n = 166, P < 0.0005. The bimodality imaging method exploits a large amount of velocity and diameter data, and therefore should be useful for studying heterogeneous flows in the microvasculature.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

A protocol for iontophoresis of acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside that minimises nonspecific vasodilatory effects.

Iontophoresis of vasoactive substances is a promising tool for studying pharmacological aspects of the (patho)physiology of the microvasculature. However, nonspecific microvascular responses are a common problem in most protocols used. We studied the effect of current density (mA/cm2), charge density (mC/cm2), drug concentration (mass %) and vehicle concentration (M) on the nonspecific vasodilatation during iontophoresis of sodium chloride, acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP). We found that nonspecific vasodilatation depended on current density and charge density in both anodal and cathodal iontophoresis. The responses to ACh and SNP were dependent on current density, charge density and drug concentration. We found that by limiting current density (<0.01 mA/cm2) and charge density (<7.8 mC/cm2) and with adjusted concentrations for drugs and vehicles, it is possible to prevent nonspecific effects during iontophoresis of ACh and SNP, while maximum drug effects (plateaus in the dose-response curves) are still obtained. These new findings are important for future iontophoresis studies in which vasoactive drugs are used to assess microvascular function because the presented approach has advantages compared to older techniques, which mainly have attempted to suppress or compensate for the nonspecific responses during iontophoresis by the use of local anaesthetics or the measurement of drug-minus-vehicle responses, both of which present well-known experimental shortcomings.

Acetylcholine↗

PubMed2002

Photon pathlength determination based on spatially resolved diffuse reflectance.

A method for the prediction of the average photon pathlength in turbid media has been developed. The method is based on spatially resolved diffuse reflectance with discrete source detector distances up to 2 mm. Light reflectance was simulated using a Monte Carlo technique with a one-layer model utilizing a wide range of optical properties, relevant to human skin. At a source detector separation of 2 mm, the pathlength can vary sixfold due to differences in optical properties. By applying various preprocessing and prediction techniques, the pathlength can be predicted with a root-mean-square error of approximately 5%. Estimation of the photon pathlength can be used, e.g., to remove the influence of optical properties on laser Doppler flowmetry perfusion readings, which are almost linearly related to the average photon pathlength.

Biophysical Phenomena↗