Little vessels react to magnetic switch. (Biomedicine).In laboratory animals, a magnet can act like a switch to either open or constrict con·strict v. To make smaller or narrower, especially by binding or squeezing. tiny blood vessels Blood vessels Tubular channels for blood transport, of which there are three principal types: arteries, capillaries, and veins. Only the larger arteries and veins in the body bear distinct names. , researchers report. Although preliminary, their study suggests the prospect of using magnets to alter blood flow in damaged tissue. To look for vascular responses to magnets, biomedical bi·o·med·i·cal adj. 1. Of or relating to biomedicine. 2. Of, relating to, or involving biological, medical, and physical sciences. engineer Thomas Skalak of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville obtained a grant from the National Institutes of Health and recruited electrical engineer Cassandra E. Morris, also at U. Va. "I was initially quite skeptical" of finding an effect, says Morris. In the experiments, she cut thin layers of rat muscle and folded them away from the body so that blood vessels, just 10 to 100 micrometers in diameter, continued to nourish them. Next, she measured the blood vessels' diameters before and after 15-minute exposures to a static, 700-gauss magnetic field. Initially, "it looked like nothing happened," Morris says, because the overall blood flow didn't appear altered. On closer inspection, however, she found that vessels that had initially been dilated dilated a state of dilatation. dilated cardiomyopathy see congestive cardiomyopathy. dilated pupil syndrome see feline dysautonomia (Key-Gaskell syndrome). became constricted con·strict v. con·strict·ed, con·strict·ing, con·stricts v.tr. 1. To make smaller or narrower by binding or squeezing. 2. To squeeze or compress. 3. , and those that had been constricted were dilated. Her team is now trying to find the mechanism for the switch.--J.R. |
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