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Tracks on the Blood
20 February 2012

Tracks on the Blood

Cardiovascular disease – the leading global ‘killer’ – will wipe out over seven million people this year. Perhaps this is not surprising in light of the fact that our bodies compartmentalise around 60,000 miles of blood vessels. Needless to say medical tools that facilitate earlier accurate diagnoses will save lives and money. Now researchers can combine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques with some clever mathematics to simultaneously measure the levels of oxygen and how fast blood travels. This cross section of a healthy human thigh is part of a study to improve early diagnosis of atherosclerosis, the main cause of cardiovascular disease (the right-hand box visualises the femoral artery in dark blue with the vein to its right in pink; the colour bar denotes oxygenation level). Atherosclerosis can remain silent for years. Early detection would be a major health benefit.

Written by Edwin Colyer

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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