Small-field angiographic imaging of tumor blood vessels in rabbit auricle using X-ray SATICON camera and synchrotron radiation

Microangiography with spatial resolution in the micrometer range was carried out for depicting angiogenic vessels in a rabbit model of cancer using a high-resolution detector and a third generation synchrotron radiation source at SPring-8. The long source-to-object distance and small source spot of synchrotron radiation radiography are able to produce high-resolution images. The imaging system was composed of an X-ray direct-conversion type detector incorporating an X-ray SATlCON pickup tube. Microangiographic images were obtained with no geometric blur and were stored in a digital frame memory system with a 1024 × 1024-pixel, 10-bit format. A VX2 carcinoma was transplanted into a rabbit auricle. At seven days after transplantation, small tumor blood vessels with diameters of 10-30 μm in an immature vascular network produced by angiogenesis were observed using monochromatic X-rays after contrast agent injection to the auricular artery.