Since the levels of tissue oxygenation can provide clinically important information when treating tumors and assessing strokes, a minimally invasive method of measuring oxygen deep within the body can improve current therapies and lead to the development of new ones. Researchers at Dartmouth College have developed a method that uses electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to measure oxygen saturation deep within the cerebrum of rabbits.
EPR has been used in the past to measure tissue oxygenation, but its penetration has been limited to only about a centimeter. The new adaptation of the technique, that involves implanting small copper wire resonators into the skull, lets scientists measure oxygen levels anywhere within the brains of rabbits over extended time periods. Moreover, as the Dartmouth team has demonstrated, the new approach can provide readings from multiple areas of the brain simultaneously for weeks at a time.
“Other than the implantation, which is done under anesthesia, the rest of the procedure for oxygen measurements is entirely non-invasive,” said Nadeem Khan, PhD, first author of the paper in journal Stroke. “We anticipate that a better understanding of oxygen levels in stroke, for instance, will guide the development of strategies to significantly improve oxygen levels in the ischemic regions of the brain and thereby improve outcomes.”
Study abstract in journal Stroke: Deep-Tissue Oxygen Monitoring in the Brain of Rabbits for Stroke Research…
Dartmouth press statement: Dartmouth Investigators Develop Groundbreaking Technique to Measure Oxygen in Deep-Sited Tumor and Brain…
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