Three-Dimensional Rotational Angiography in Murine Models: A Technical Note

Abstract

Atherosclerotic plaques and aneurysms are injuries associated with areas of low and oscillatory wall shear stress at vascular bifurcations1. Experimental animal models have been used extensively in the development of new therapeutic approaches to this pathophysiological process.2 In such models, flow at the artery is complicated by several features1–2; however, these effects are minor compared to anatomical variations of bifurcation.3 Therefore, identifying the geometric features of arterial bifurcation is a priority. Angiography of small animal models has been extensively used as a technique to resolve geometric features of the vascular tree.4 Angiography offers unsurpassed spatial resolution of vasculature, and, furthermore, offers a rapid practical method for the evaluation of large experimental groups.5 Unfortunately, in angiography, the viewing angles are predetermined and limited in number, such that the method has an associated problem of blood vessel superimposition and overlapping; therefore, simple angiography cannot be used to accurately depict the spatial relationship between vessels and between the vasculature and surrounding tissues.6 These limitations have prompted us to consider rotational angiography and rendering reconstruction to evaluate 3D volumes and to resolve the arterial geometry necessary for the generation of a finite elements mesh that is indispensable to computational fluid dynamics studies (CFD).