| Objective:To examined the ability of a novel spinal cord injury (SCI) device based on precise vertebral stabilization to produce graded morphological, behavioral and SCBF(spinal cord blood flow) changes in the canines following an injury at thoracic level 12 to 13(T12-13). A new microinvasive technique of Laser-Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) was evaluated to measure spinal cord blood flow (SCBF), which plays a key role in the pathophysiological description and understanding of spinal cord injury. Methods:301 injury system apparatus (301) was established, which contains a novel spine-stabilizing device that enables precise and stable spine fixation. The injury device uses spinal cord displacement (6mm), impact velocity (1m/s), compressing depth (6mm) and compressing time (5mns or 10mns) as the control variable to determine the severity of injury. The area of necrosis was employed to evaluate morphological differences following the injury. Quantitative behavioral assessment employed the TSCIS rating scale. Laser-Doppler Flowmetry (LDF) was employed to evaluate SCBF. Results:Animals subjected to a (6mm +1m/s+6mm+10mns) injury performed significantly worse than animals subjected to a (6mm+1m/s+6mm+5mns) injury. Animals subjected to the (6mm+1m/s+6mm+10mns) injury displayed the least amount of spared tissue. MEP showed no hindlimb movement upon stimulation cranial to the site of injury in the (6mm+1m/s+6mm+10mns) group. The descent of SCBF significantly correlated with the prognosis and the locomotor ability. Conclusion:Present data document that the 301 produces reliable and reproducible SCI whose parameters of injury can be adjusted to more accurately reflect clinical SCI. It was concluded that (6mm+1m/s+6mm+10mns) caused irreversible paraplegia in dogs. The result of the microinvasive technique of LDF, in agreement with SCBF/CBF measurements performed with other techniques, opens new perspectives for animal studies in vivo. Application to human experiments may also be possible. |
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