A new liver and soft tissue biopsy instrument.

A new liver biopsy instrument taking the form of a suction biopsy syringe with two pistons and a Menghini needle, is described. A vacuum is first created, and the whole procedure is effected by a continuous uninterrupted movement into the liver and instantaneous withdrawal. The syringe is held in one hand.

Velocity distribution and blood flow measurements using videodensitometric methods.

Digital cine-videodensitometry was employed for measuring blood velocity and blood flow in the descending aorta of human subjects. A very small, compact bolus of opaque dye was injected during different phases of the cardiac cycle, and flow through a portion of the aorta was analyzed. From the density vs time curves for different radial locations, the velocity distribution over the vessel cross-section was calculated.