Research Article Development of an Ex Vivo, Beating Heart Model for CT Myocardial Perfusion Gert Jan Pelgrim, 1 Marco Das, 2 Ulrike Haberland, 3 Cees Slump, 4 Astri Handayani, 1 Sjoerd van Tuijl, 5 Marco Stijnen, 5 Ernst Klotz, 3 Matthijs Oudkerk, 6 Joachim E. Wildberger, 2 and Rozemarijn Vliegenthart 1 1 University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Medical Imaging-North East Netherlands, Department of Radiology, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ Groningen, Netherlands 2 Department of Radiology and Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht (CARIM), Maastricht University Medical Center, Postbus 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, Netherlands 3 Siemens AG Healthcare, Forchheim, Germany 4 University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5, 7522 NB Enschede, Netherlands 5 LifeTec Group BV, Den Dolech 2, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, Netherlands 6 University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Medical Imaging-North East Netherlands, Hanzeplein 1, 9713 GZ Groningen, Netherlands Correspondence should be addressed to Rozemarijn Vliegenthart; r.vliegenthart@umcg.nl Received 11 September 2014; Accepted 23 December 2014 Academic Editor: Marco Francone Copyright © 2015 Gert Jan Pelgrim et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective. To test the feasibility of a CT-compatible, ex vivo, perfused porcine heart model for myocardial perfusion CT imaging. Methods. One porcine heart was perfused according to Langendorf. Dynamic perfusion scanning was performed with a second- generation dual source CT scanner. Circulatory parameters like blood fow, aortic pressure, and heart rate were monitored throughout the experiment. Stenosis was induced in the circumfex artery, controlled by a fractional fow reserve (FFR) pressure wire. CT-derived myocardial perfusion parameters were analysed at FFR of 1 to 0.10/0.0. Results. CT images did not show major artefacts due to interference of the model setup. Te pacemaker-induced heart rhythm was generally stable at 70 beats per minute. During most of the experiment, blood fow was 0.9–1.0 L/min, and arterial pressure varied between 80 and 95 mm/Hg. Blood fow decreased and arterial pressure increased by approximately 10% afer inducing a stenosis with FFR ≤ 0.50. Dynamic perfusion scanning was possible across the range of stenosis grades. Perfusion parameters of circumfex-perfused myocardial segments were afected at increasing stenosis grades. Conclusion. An adapted Langendorf porcine heart model is feasible in a CT environment. Tis model provides control over physiological parameters and may allow in-depth validation of quantitative CT perfusion techniques. 1. Introduction Computed tomography (CT) has become the premier non- invasive imaging modality for the noninvasive evaluation of the coronary arteries. For the functional assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD), the sole diagnosis of coronary luminal narrowing is ofen limited, especially in case of 30–70 percent (intermediate) grade stenosis [1]. Usually, additional testing on the impact of stenosis on myocardial perfusion is needed. To date, CT is not commonly used in daily clinical practice worldwide, except for several leading clinics in CT imaging. However, recent evidence suggests that state-of-the- art CT scanners allow evaluation of myocardial blood supply, on top of the interrogation of coronary morphology [2]. Tis includes quantifcation of myocardial perfusion using dynamic perfusion techniques in second-generation dual source CT (DSCT) scanning [3, 4]. Measurement of absolute myocardial perfusion can enhance the diagnostic accuracy for hemodynamically signifcant CAD, compared to visual analysis of perfusion maps [4–6]. At present, only positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is capable of true per- fusion quantifcation [7]. Morton et al. recently demonstrated Hindawi Publishing Corporation BioMed Research International Volume 2015, Article ID 412716, 8 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/412716