Figure 3:

Unobstructed lymphatic flow results. Lymphatic and blood water magnetization as a function of postlabeling delay times in six separate healthy subjects. In-plane dimensions of lymph nodes evaluated for each subject are also reported. Note that blood signal increases quickly owing to the short T1 of blood water and fast blood water velocity. Alternatively, signal in the axillary lymph node increases much later, because of the much slower velocity of lymph fluid. The relatively rapid rise and fall of the lymphatic curve is consistent with mixing of lymphatic water in the node and finite node dwell times, similar to the macrovascular blood compartment in arterial spin labeling experiments (Appendix E3 [online]). F = female, M = male, ROI = region of interest.