STUDY DESIGN Experimental animal study. OBJECTIVE The current study aims to test whether the blood flow within the contused spinal cord can be assessed in a rodent model via the acoustic window of the laminectomy utilizing transcutaneous ultrasound. SETTING Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle WA. METHODS Long-Evans rats (n = 12) were subjected to a traumatic thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI). Three days and 10 weeks after injury, animals underwent imaging of the contused spinal cord using ultrafast contrast-enhanced ultrasound with a Vantage ultrasound research system in combination with a 15 MHz transducer. Lesion size and signal-to-noise ratios were estimated via transcutaneous, subcutaneous, or epidural ultrasound acquisition through the acoustic window created by the original laminectomy. RESULTS Following laminectomy, transcutaneous and subcutaneous contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging allowed for assessment of perfusion and vascular flow in the contused rodent spinal cord. An average loss of 7.2 dB from transcutaneous to subcutaneous and the loss of 5.1 dB from subcutaneous to epidural imaging in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was observed. The hypoperfused injury center was measured transcutaneously, subcutaneously and epidurally (5.78 ± 0.86, 5.91 ± 0.53, 5.65 ± 1.07 mm2) at 3 days post injury. The same animals were reimaged again at 10 weeks following SCI, and the area of hypoperfusion had decreased significantly compared with the 3-day measurements detected via transcutaneous, subcutaneous, and epidural imaging respectively (0.69 ± 0.05, 1.09 ± 0.11, 0.95 ± 0.11 mm2, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Transcutaneous ultrasound allows for measurements and longitudinal monitoring of local hemodynamic changes in a rodent SCI model.

中文翻译：

---

创伤后脊髓的经皮对比增强超声成像。

研究设计实验动物研究。目的目前的研究旨在测试是否可以在啮齿动物模型中通过经皮超声在椎板切除术的声窗下评估挫伤脊髓内的血流。设置地点：华盛顿大学华盛顿大学神经外科。方法对长Evans大鼠（n = 12）进行胸椎脊髓外伤（SCI）。受伤后三天零十周，使用Vantage超声研究系统结合15 MHz换能器的超快对比增强超声对动物进行挫伤脊髓成像。病变的大小和信噪比是通过原始椎板切除术产生的声窗通过经皮，皮下或硬膜外超声采集来估算的。结果椎板切除术后，经皮和皮下对比增强的超声成像可以评估挫伤性啮齿动物脊髓的灌注和血管流量。从信噪比（SNR）观察，经皮至皮下平均损失为7.2 dB，从皮下至硬膜外成像平均损失为5.1 dB。在损伤后3天，通过皮下，皮下和硬膜外测量低灌注损伤中心（5.78±0.86，5.91±0.53，5.65±1.07 mm2）。与相同的动物在SCI后第10周再次成像，与分别通过皮下，皮下和硬膜外成像检测的3天测量值相比，灌注不足的面积显着减少（0.69±0.05、1.09±0.11、0.95±0.11 mm2 ，p <0.001）。