Abstract
This study investigates diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for providing microstructural insight into changes in arterial tissue by exploring how cell, collagen and elastin content effect fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) and tractography. Five ex vivo porcine carotid artery models (n = 6 each) were compared—native, fixed native, collagen degraded, elastin degraded and decellularised. Vessels were imaged at 7 T using a DTI protocol with b = 0 and 800 s/mm2 and 10 isotopically distributed directions. FA and MD were evaluated in the vessel media and compared across models. FA values measured in native (p < 0.0001), fixed native (p < 0.0001) and collagen degraded (p = 0.0018, p = 0.0016, respectively) were significantly higher than those in elastin degraded and decellularised arteries. Native and fixed native had significantly lower MD values than elastin degraded (p < 0.0001) and decellularised tissue (p = 0.0032, p = 0.0003, respectively). Significantly lower MD was measured in collagen degraded compared with the elastin degraded model (p = 0.0001). Tractography yielded helically arranged tracts for native and collagen degraded vessels only. FA, MD and tractography were found to be highly sensitive to changes in the microstructural composition of arterial tissue, specifically pointing to cell, not collagen, content as the dominant source of the measured anisotropy in the vessel wall.
Highlights
This study investigates diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for providing microstructural insight into changes in arterial tissue by exploring how cell, collagen and elastin content effect fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) and tractography
The aim of this study is to investigate the potential of DTI to provide specific insight into microstructural changes in arterial tissue by exploring the influence of key components on FA, MD and fibre tractography
In the present study we investigated the sensitivity of DTI derived FA, MD and tractography to changes in arterial tissue microstructure
Summary
This study investigates diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for providing microstructural insight into changes in arterial tissue by exploring how cell, collagen and elastin content effect fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) and tractography. FA, MD and tractography were found to be highly sensitive to changes in the microstructural composition of arterial tissue, pointing to cell, not collagen, content as the dominant source of the measured anisotropy in the vessel wall. A handful of studies have explored the application of DTI to arterial tissue[5,6] and demonstrated its sensitivity to changes in tissue integrity[7,8,9] These studies have laid the groundwork and demonstrated both the feasibility and promise of DTI to effectively investigate underlying tissue microstructure in arterial vessels. The quantity, quality and arrangement of these components can be disrupted during disease progression and result in significant mechanical shortcomings and failings[4,13,14]
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