Whole-brain microcirculation detection after ischemic stroke based on swept-source optical coherence tomography

The occurrence and development of ischemic stroke are closely related to cerebral blood flow. Real-time monitoring of cerebral perfusion level is very useful for understanding the mechanisms of the disease. A wide field of view (FOV) is conducive to capturing lesions and observing the progression of the disease. In this paper, we attempt to monitor the whole-brain microcirculation in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats over time using a wide FOV swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) system. A constrained image registration algorithm is used to remove motion artifacts that are prone to occur in a wide FOV angiography. During ischemia, cerebral perfusion levels in the left and right hemispheres, as well as in the whole brain were quantified and compared. Changes in the shape and location of blood vessels were also recorded. The results showed that the trend in cerebral perfusion levels of both hemispheres was highly consistent during MCAO, and the position of the blood vessels varied over time. This work will provide new insights of ischemic stroke and is helpful to assess the effectiveness of potential treatment strategies.