By improving our understanding of blood flow in vivo the
Light microscopy is a rapidly evolving field for understanding in vivo systems where high resolution is required. It is particularly crucial for cardiovascular research, where clinical studies are based on ultrasound technologies which inherently have lower resolution and provide limited information.
The ability to monitor blood flow in the sophisticated vascular tree (notably in the smallest elements of the microvasculature - capillaries) can provide invaluable information to understand disease processes such as thrombosis and vascular inflammation. There are further applications for the improved delivery of therapeutics, such as targeting tumours.
Currently, blood flow in the microvasculature is poorly understood. Nanoscience is uniquely placed to help understand the processes happening in the micron-dimensioned vessels.
Designing probes to monitor blood flow is challenging because of the environment; the high protein levels in plasma and the high red blood cell concentrations are detrimental to optical imaging.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-10-gold-nanoprobes-track-blood-tiny.html#jCp
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