Three-dimensional and dynamic assessment of digital lymphatic vessels using photoacoustic imaging
- 1Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- 2Department of Anatomy, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
Abstract
Digital lymphatic anatomy has been defined largely by cadaveric studies. We evaluated whether photoacoustic lymphangiography (PAL) could depict three-dimensional anatomy and motion-related deformation in vivo. Two healthy volunteers and one patient with secondary upper-extremity lymphedema underwent fingertip indocyanine green injection, near-infrared fluorescence imaging, and static and dynamic PAL. In healthy fingers, lymphatic vessels coursed mainly along the lateral aspects toward the dorsal hand and lay between superficial veins and digital arteries. Flexion produced spiral-like deformation or abrupt angulation, whereas vessels were relatively straight during extension; segmental lymphatic signals moved proximally during motion. In the patient, PAL visualized vessels beneath dermal backflow that appeared more irregular and showed frequent short-segment tortuosity, and guided lymphaticovenular anastomosis. These findings support the feasibility of finger-specific, in vivo three-dimensional and motion-resolved assessment of digital lymphatic morphology using PAL.
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BibTeX
@article{suzuki2026threedimensional,
title = {{Three-dimensional and dynamic assessment of digital lymphatic vessels using photoacoustic imaging}},
author = {Yushi Suzuki and Takahiro Uno and Hiroki Kajita and Tatsuya Kato and Yoshifumi Takatsume and Nobuaki Imanishi and Kazuo Kishi},
journal = {JPRAS open},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.jpra.2026.10.015},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13718483},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Three-dimensional and dynamic assessment of digital lymphatic vessels using photoacoustic imaging
AU - Yushi Suzuki
AU - Takahiro Uno
AU - Hiroki Kajita
AU - Tatsuya Kato
AU - Yoshifumi Takatsume
AU - Nobuaki Imanishi
AU - Kazuo Kishi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - JPRAS open
DO - 10.1016/j.jpra.2026.10.015
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13718483
AB - Digital lymphatic anatomy has been defined largely by cadaveric studies. We evaluated whether photoacoustic lymphangiography (PAL) could depict three-dimensional anatomy and motion-related deformation in vivo. Two healthy volunteers and one patient with secondary upper-extremity lymphedema underwent fingertip indocyanine green injection, near-infrared fluorescence imaging, and static and dynamic PAL. In healthy fingers, lymphatic vessels coursed mainly along the lateral aspects toward the dorsal hand and lay between superficial veins and digital arteries. Flexion produced spiral-like deformation or abrupt angulation, whereas vessels were relatively straight during extension; segmental lymphatic signals moved proximally during motion. In the patient, PAL visualized vessels beneath dermal backflow that appeared more irregular and showed frequent short-segment tortuosity, and guided lymphaticovenular anastomosis. These findings support the feasibility of finger-specific, in vivo three-dimensional and motion-resolved assessment of digital lymphatic morphology using PAL.
SN - 2352-5878
ER -