SMALL-VESSEL RADIOGRAPHY IN-SITU WITH MONOCHROMATIC SYNCHROTRON-RADIATION

PURPOSE: To evaluate the usefulness of a radiographic system with mono chromatic synchrotron radiation to depict small vessels and peripheral secretory ducts. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Radiography of various organs was tested in 14 anesthetized dogs and pancreatography was performed in an excised human pancreas by using the following system: monochroma tic synchrotron radiation with an energy level just above the k absorp tion edge of iodine as an x-ray source and a high-definition TV system with a high-light-sensitivity image pick-up tube camera coupled with a fluorescent screen as a detector. RESULTS: This system allowed depic tion of small vessels (diameter <50-100 mu m) of the heart (penetratin g transmural artery), brain (perforating arteries that arise directly in the circle of Willis), and intestinal organs (vasa recta and their submucosal communications) and of small branches (down to the fifth or der) of the pancreatic duct. CONCLUSION: The synchrotron radiation sys tem may be useful for evaluating microcirculatory disorders and early- stage malignant tumors in various human organs.