title: A century of indicator dilution technique.
abstract: This review imparts the history and the present status of the indicator dilution technique with quantitative bolus injection. The first report on flow measurement with this technique appeared 100 years ago. In 1928, the use of intravascular dyes made possible a widespread application in animals and human during the next decades. Multiple indicators, radioactive tracers, inlet-outlet detection and residue detection were introduced in the 1950s and 1960s, and refined along with the development of indicator kinetics. From the 1970s, a wide clinical use in the study of heart, brain, lungs, liver and kidneys developed, and powerful computers in the 1980s and 1990s accorded the technique a new dimension. Today, the indicator dilution technique, on one hand, is applied in the same way as 100 years ago, on the other hand it forms the basis of quantitative SPECT, positron emission tomography, and dynamic MR scans. The technique still undergoes refinement and elaboration as a lasting concept with a high potential for further development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine 239, Center of Functional and Diagnostic Imaging and Research, Hvidovre Hospital, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Hvidovre, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jens H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Henriksen
authors.forename: Gorm B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Henrik B W
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Larsson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004395:Dye Dilution Technique / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D006439:Hemodynamics; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007267:Injections; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011865:Radioisotope Dilution Technique / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D011868:Radioisotopes
keywords: SPECT scanning; capillary extraction; flow measurements; positron emission tomography scanning; quantitative MRI scanning; residue detection; tracer kinetics