Synchrotron-based visualization and segmentation of elastic lamellae in the mouse carotid artery during quasi-static pressure inflation.

ABSTRACT: In computational aortic biomechanics, aortic and arterial tissue are typically modelled as a homogeneous layer, making abstraction not only of the layered structure of intima, media and adventitia but also of the microstructure that exists within these layers. Here, we present a novel method to visualize the microstructure of the tunica media along the entire circumference of the vessel. To that end, we developed a pressure-inflation device that is compatible with synchrotron-based phase-contrast imaging. Using freshly excised left common carotid arteries from n = 12 mice, we visualized how the lamellae and interlamellar layers inflate as the luminal pressure is increased from 0 to 120 mm Hg in quasi-static steps. A graph-based segmentation algorithm subsequently allowed us to automaticall

SUBMITTER: Trachet B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6597763 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature