The goal of this project is to develop a fully automated method and instrument for high-resolution three-dimensional mapping of regional blood flow distribution in tumors. This research is based upon the working hypothesis that suitable fluorescence dyes may be used as quantitative indicators of blood flow in tumors. Deposition of fluorescent microspheres, injected into the arterial circulation at the same time as the dye, serve to calibrate the dye fluorescence measurement of blood flow. This project will adapt instrumentation for tissue sectioning and video imaging to determination of regional flow in tumors. Phase I research will demonstrate the ability of fluorescent dyes to provide high-resolution maps of regional blood flow distribution in tumors. Successful Phase I studies, demonstrating the feasibility of high-resolution mapping of blood flow in tumors, will aid in formulating design parameters for optimizing the instrument and methods for use in Phase II studies. Phase II will extend use of this flow methodology to studies that include the use of more than one color of fluorescent flow marker, that include fluorescent detection and volume measurement of tumors, and that delineate vascular morphometry within tumors. Therapeutic agents that modify tumor flow and vascularization will be studied to demonstrate the value of the flow imaging methods for tumor research. This project will provide physiology and cancer researchers with a unique tool for quantifying regional flow and vascularization in tumors and for studying the effects of angiogenesis inhibitors on these parameters.
This technology will develop new high-resolution imaging methods for measurement of regional blood flow in tumors. The market being targeted for the Imaging CryoMicrotome and the methods being developed as part of this research are research laboratories that study tumor growth and vascularization. Adoption of these approaches for imaging regional blood flow in tumors will benefit research on affects of angiogenesis inhibitors on tumor growth and blood flow distribution.
