Jorgensen, Steven M.

AbstractThe liver differs from other organs in that two vascular systems deliver its blood – the hepatic artery and the portal vein. However, how the two systems interact is not fully understood. We therefore studied the microvascular geometry of rat liver hepatic artery and portal vein injected with the contrast polymer Microfil®. Intact isolated rat livers were imaged by micro‐CT and anatomic evidence for hepatic arteriolo‐portal venular shunts occurring between hepatic artery and portal vein branches was found. Simulations were performed to rule out the possibility of the observed shunts being artifacts resulting from image blurring. In addition, in the case of specimens where only the portal vein was injected, only the portal vein was opacified, whereas in hepatic artery injections, both the hepatic artery and portal vein were opacified. We conclude that mixing of the hepatic artery and portal vein blood can occur proximal to the sinusoidal level, and that the hepatic arteriolo‐portal venular shunts may function as a one‐way valve‐like mechanism, allowing flow only from the hepatic artery to the portal vein (and not the other way around).

AbstractMicrovasculature associated with the sciatic nerve was examined using high‐resolution micro‐CT scanning in one group of rats and surgical exploration in another. The results indicate that blood supply to the sciatic nerve is an “open‐ended” system in which the vessels run longitudinally within the epineurium and connect with external vasculature primarily at junction points. Although the range of vasculature found extended down to 4–5 μ, only a few isolated vessels of this size were found, with no capillary “mesh” as such, possibly because of the close proximity of the intrinsic vessel to nerve fibers within the epineurium. While the study did not include direct measurements of flow or nerve function, the “open‐ended” pattern of vasculature found has important implications regarding the relationship between the two. Specifically, the nerve is less vulnerable to a severe or complete disruption in blood supply than it would be under a close‐ended system such as that of the heart or brain, where a severe disruption can occur with the obstruction of only a single vessel. Indeed, the pattern of vasculature found, subject to further study of vasculature at the capillary level, suggests that flow within the intrinsic vessels may be in either direction, depending on circumstances, somewhat like flow within the circle of Willis in the cerebral circulation.

The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of pore geometry on the transport rate and depth after repetitive mechanical deformation of porous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Flexible cubic imaging phantoms with pores in the shape of a circular cylinder, elliptic cylinder, and spheroid were fabricated from a biodegradable polymer blend using a combined 3D printing and injection molding technique. The specimens were immersed in fluid and loaded with a solution of a radiopaque solute. The solute distribution was quantified by recording 20 μm pixel-resolution images in an X-ray microimaging scanner at selected time points after intervals of dynamic straining with a mean strain of 8.6 ± 1.6% at 1.0 Hz. The results show that application of cyclic strain significantly increases the rate and depth of solute transport, as compared to diffusive transport alone, for all pore shapes. In addition, pore shape, pore size, and the orientation of the pore cross-sectional asymmetry with respect to the direction of strain greatly influence solute transport. Thus, pore geometry can be tailored to increase transport rates and depths in cyclically deformed scaffolds, which is of utmost importance when thick, metabolically functional tissues are to be engineered.