title: Pulsatility Index quantification in the human precapillary arterioles of the eye.
abstract: The Pulsatility Index (PI) was quantified for the first time in the human conjunctival pre-capillary arterioles in vivo. In 30 arterioles with diameters ranging between 6 and 12μm, from 15 healthy humans, peak to peak velocity ranged from 0.2 up to 4.8mm/s with a mean value equal to 1.4±0.2 (SE) mm/s. The PI ranged from 0.4 to 1.5 and the overall mean value was 0.8±0.1 (SE). The linear correlation between PI and diameter was practically zero (Spearman's correlation coefficient, rs≈0) for the range of arteriolar diameters examined here. In this work a first step was made towards the complete PI mapping of the human carotid arterial tree.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Laboratories, School of Health Sciences, Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece. Electronic address: ariskout@otenet.gr.
authors.forename: Aristotle G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Koutsiaris
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001160:Arterioles / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000098:blood supply*; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D011673:Pulsatile Flow; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D013997:Time Factors; D014741:Video Recording; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Arterioles; Blood flow; Eye; Human; Microcirculation; Pulsatility Index