In vivo study of cerebral ischemia using Shear Wave Imaging and Ultrafast Doppler

A multi-modal ultrasound imaging study of cerebral ischemia was performed on a rat model. Ischemia was obtained by the transient 2h occlusion of a cerebral artery and the lesion induced was imaged 1, 2, 4 and 7 days after the stroke. With Bmode imaging, the lesion was found to be hyperechogenic compared to normal brain tissue. With Shear Wave Imaging, the elasticity of the brain was measured showing that the ischemic lesion is softer than normal brain tissue and that its elasticity decreases significantly over time. With Ultrafast Doppler, the perfusion in the brain was measured showing that the lesion is hyperperfused compared to normal brain tissue with a peak two days after the occlusion. Ultrafast Doppler was also proved able to monitor the occlusion. Future work will focused on applying this multi-modal study for ischemic lesions induced by apoxia on newborn babies through the fontanel.