Cerebral edema is a severe complication of acute ischemic stroke with high mortality but limited treatment. Although parameters such as brain water content and intracranial pressure may represent the global assessment of edema, optical properties can appear heterogeneously throughout the cerebral tissue relative to the site of injury. In this study, we have monitored the edema formation and progression in both permanent and transient middle cerebral artery occlusion models in rats. Edema was reflected by the decrease of optical attenuation coefficient (OAC) value in OCT system. By utilizing swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT), we found that in photochemically induced permanent focal stroke model, both the edema size and edema index, steadily developed until the end of monitor (7 h). Comparatively, when transient ischemia was introduced with endothelin-1 (ET-1), the edema was detected as early as 15 min, and began to recover after 30 min until monitor was finished (3 h). Despite the majority of the edema being recovered to some extent, the condition of a small region within the edema kept deteriorating, presumably due to the reperfusion damage which might result in serious clinical outcomes. Our study has compared the edema characteristics from two different acute ischemic stroke situations. This work not only confirms the capability of OCT to temporal and spatial monitor of edema but is also able to locate focal conditions at some areas that might highly determine the prognosis and treatment decisions.

基于光学相干层析成像(OCT)的功能成像技术得以不断发展。光学相干血流造影(OCTA)技术将血红细胞与周围组织的相对运动作为内源性的血流标记特征,通过分析OCT中空间散射信号的动态光学散射特性,提取血流运动信息。OCTA技术通过在三维空间区分动态血流区域及其周围静态组织,实现了在体、无标记、三维高分辨率的血流运动造影。光学衰减系数(OAC)算法通过分析OCT中空间散射信号随深度的衰减特性,评估组织损伤程度,准确揭示组织活性。OCTA技术和OAC算法使得对脑中风过程的在体、无标记、三维高分辨率的长期监测成为可能,包括缺血及血流再灌注过程、组织损伤及其恢复程度的实时评估。针对OCTA技术和OAC算法的发展进行了系统性回顾,并介绍了相关脑中风研究的进展,上述OCT技术在生物医学领域具有重要的应用价值。