Implantation of a Carotid Cuff for Triggering Shear-stress Induced Atherosclerosis in MiceMichael T. Kuhlmann 1, Simon Cuhlmann 2,3, Irmgard Hoppe 1, Rob Krams 3, Paul C. Evans 2, Gustav J. Strijkers 4, Klaas Nicolay 4, Sven Hermann 1, Michael Schäfers 1
1European Institute for Molecular Imaging, Westfälische Wilhelms-University Münster, 2British Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Sciences Unit, Imperial College London , 3Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London , 4Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology
The constricting cuff presented in this article is designed to induce atherosclerosis in the murine common carotid artery. Due to the conical shape of its inner lumen the implanted cuff generates well-defined regions of low, high and oscillatory shear stress triggering the development of atherosclerotic lesions of different inflammatory phenotypes.