A microindentation technique to measure rheological properties of the vascular intima.
A microindentor was developed to measure the depth of indentation of the intimal surface of arterial tissue loaded by flat-ended, cylindrical probes. The depth of indentation depended on the initial stretch of the tissue which required a rigid support (plaster of Paris) beneath the adventitial surface. Probe tips used ranged from 550-mum down to 65-mum diameter while loads ranged from 800 to 15 mg. The depth of indentation was markedly time dependent; that obtained 30 s after loading (variation of 30) was reproducible and served as a useful parameter of viscoelasticity of the aortic intima and supporting tissues of dog and man. The mean variation of 30 (0.19-mm diam tip, 120-mg load), obtained from longitudinal series of indentations of nine dog aortas, ranged from 40.8 to 68.8 mum while coefficient of variation in these series ranged from 4.8 to 15.9%. Intimal pads were found to have greater resistance to identation than adjacent tissue; likewise the tissue on the dorsal, intimal surface of the aorta had lower variation of 30 values compared with the rest of the intima. Lipid-filled intimal regions were about twice as complaint as macroscopically spared areas. The technique should prove useful in understanding the microrheological response of the blood vascular interface to hydrodynamic stresses.
D000818:Animals; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000502:physiology; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000502:physiology*; D004285:Dogs; D004548:Elasticity; D008722:Methods; D012212:Rheology; D013499:Surface Properties