Opacity pulse of individual minute arteries.

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Abstract
A simple method for microscopic photoelectric photometry of individual minute vessels is described. Applied to the frog''s mesentery, hamster cheek pouch, and rat mesoappendix, it demonstrated opacity pulses in arteries down to the arteriolar size of 0.024 mm and their absence in capillaries and veins. The amplitudes of the arterial opacity pulses correlated directionally with visual impressions and with direct measurements of blood flow, thus confirming previously observed relations between blood flow and opacity pulses in human skin. The onset, intensity, and duration of the responses of individual minute arteries to various vasoactive influences may be followed by this method. The possible influences of erythrocyte orientation in the blood stream, of the local hematocrit, and of vessel diameter on the genesis of the opacity pulse are discussed. Various possible applications of the method are suggested.

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