Transcutaneous contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging of the posttraumatic spinal cord

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 mm(2)) 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 mm(2), p < 0.001). Conclusions Transcutaneous ultrasound allows for measurements and longitudinal monitoring of local hemodynamic changes in a rodent SCI model.