Viscoelastic characterization of injured brain tissue after controlled cortical impact (CCI) using a mouse model

Suhao Qiu; Wenheng Jiang; Mohammad Shah Alam; Shaoxuan Chen; Changxin Lai; Tianyao Wang; Xiangdong Li; Jun Liu; Mingyuan Gao; Yaohui Tang; Xiaowei Li; Jianfeng Zeng; Yuan Feng

doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108463

Viscoelastic characterization of injured brain tissue after controlled cortical impact (CCI) using a mouse model

J Neurosci Methods. 2020 Jan 15:330:108463. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108463. Epub 2019 Nov 4.

Authors

Suhao Qiu¹, Wenheng Jiang², Mohammad Shah Alam³, Shaoxuan Chen¹, Changxin Lai¹, Tianyao Wang⁴, Xiangdong Li⁵, Jun Liu⁴, Mingyuan Gao², Yaohui Tang⁶, Xiaowei Li⁷, Jianfeng Zeng⁸, Yuan Feng⁹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Medical Imaging Technology, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China; Center for Molecular Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, School of Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University, Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou 215123, China.
³ Bio-ID Center, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China; Department of Anatomy and Histology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Radiology, The Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai, Fudan University, 801 Heqing Road, Shanghai 200240, China.
⁵ Department of neurosurgery, The first affiliated hospital of Soochow University, No. 899 PinhaiLu, Suzhou 215000, China.
⁶ School of Biomedical Engineering and Med-X Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
⁷ Bio-ID Center, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Radiation Medicine and Protection, School of Radiation Medicine and Protection, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, China; Center for Molecular Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, School of Radiological and Interdisciplinary Sciences (RAD-X), Soochow University, Collaborative Innovation Center of Radiation Medicine of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Suzhou 215123, China. Electronic address: jfzeng@suda.edu.cn.
⁹ Institute of Medical Imaging Technology, School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China. Electronic address: fengyuan@sjtu.edu.cn.

PMID: 31698000
DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108463

Abstract

Background: Mechanical properties of the brain tissue are crucial to understand the mechanisms of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Injured brain tissue could induce changes of mechanical properties and anatomical structures. However, limited data is available for the injured tissue.

New method: We developed a custom-built device to introduce controlled cortical impact (CCI) to brain with controlled impact velocity and direction. A study protocol for measuring the viscoelastic properties of injured brain tissue was also developed. Micro-scale morphological changes of the vasculature were quantified by analyzing confocal images of the brain tissue using CLARITY method.

Results: Results showed significant differences of the instantaneous shear modulus of the impact region from different impact angles. However, no significant differences were found for long-term shear modulus by varying the impact angles and velocities. Analysis of the vasculature showed an increased radius of the vessels in the injured tissue compared with that in the control group.

Comparison with existing methods: A combination of three different impact velocities and three different impact angles were adopted for producing injury to the brain. In addition, viscoelastic properties were compared between the injured and non-injured regions. The corresponding morphological changes of the vasculature system were also investigated.

Conclusions: The instantaneous shear modulus at the impact region was significantly different for the three impact angles. Compared to that of the control group, increased radius of the vasculature was also observed in the injured brain tissue. Results indicated that the biomechanical and structural changes of the injured tissue were closely related to the impact angles and velocities. Viscoelastic measurements could also help validation of computational models.

Keywords: Controlled cortical impact; Indentation; Traumatic brain injury; Viscoelastic property.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Biomechanical Phenomena / physiology*
Brain Injuries, Traumatic* / diagnostic imaging
Cerebral Cortex / diagnostic imaging
Cerebral Cortex / injuries*
Disease Models, Animal*
Elasticity
Female
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Neurosciences / instrumentation
Neurosciences / methods*
Viscosity