There are three components of the study: technical development to define the imaging protocol; conduct the observational study of blood flow patterns in study subjects; and define the anatomy and flow parameters for construction of flow models. The development of the principal imaging protocol is complete; the portal anatomy and flow patterns can be reproducibly imaged. During the period of technical development, we have observed evidence of the phenomenon of blood streaming, which is the central hypothesis of our study. The observational study of subjects after fasting and after a meal began in July 1999. Preliminary anatomic and flow data have been collected for model construction; a preliminary model has been constructed. We expect to refine the model and initiate the flow studies within the next few months and continue the study.
