Researchers Develop New Method to Measure Cerebral Blood Flow

In a study recently published in the journal Biomedical Optics Express, researchers from Stony Brook University School of Medicine describe a novel imaging technique for measuring cerebral blood flow that focuses a Ti:Sapphire laser on the mouse brain cortex. “Using ultra high-resolution optical coherence Doppler tomography, developed in our lab via advances in hardware and image processing, we can show neurovascular toxicity elicited by cocaine,” said the study’s lead author. “We can visualize, in animal models, the micro and regional ischemic effects [deficiency of blood flow] to the cerebral microvascular networks.” The ability to measure both cerebral blood flow speeds inside tiny blood vessels and the larger network effects is critical. Showing quantitative flow imaging can provide useful physiological and functional information that was not accessible previously. The new technique can potentially aid in disease prognosis and monitoring treatment effects, and can also be applied to other diseases involving vascular impairment and healing; it could also help with drug and alcohol abuse, wound repair and the formation of blood vessels in tumor tissue. To read more about this study, click here.