Stroboscopic nuclear magnetic resonance microscopy of arterial blood flow.

NMR microscopy was used to obtain transverse flow profiles of arterial blood flow in the rat carotid artery at 33 microns resolution. The images were gated to the EKG and correspond to identified regions of diastole. The profiles show that flow is laminar during this part of the heart cycle. These results provide the first direct view of blood flow profiles in arteries of submillimeter diameter and suggest that animals as small as juvenile rodents will serve as valuable models for hemodynamic studies. Extensions to flow during systole, stenoses, and flow in the vicinity of the carotid bifurcation are discussed.