title: In Vivo Measurement of Cervical Spinal Cord Deformation During Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury in a Rodent Model.
abstract: The spinal cord undergoes physical deformation during traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI), which results in biological damage. This study demonstrates a novel approach, using magnetic resonance imaging and image registration techniques, to quantify the three-dimensional deformation of the cervical spinal cord in an in vivo rat model. Twenty-four male rats were subjected to one of two clinically relevant mechanisms of TSCI (i.e. contusion and dislocation) inside of a MR scanner using a novel apparatus, enabling imaging of the deformed spinal cords. The displacement fields demonstrated qualitative differences between injury mechanisms. Three-dimensional Lagrangian strain fields were calculated, and the results from the contusion injury mechanism were deemed most reliable. Strain field error was assessed using a Monte Carlo approach, which showed that simulated normal strain error experienced a bias, whereas shear strain error did not. In contusion injury, a large region of dorso-ventral compressive strain was observed under the impactor which extended into the ventral region of the spinal cord. High tensile lateral strains under the impactor and compressive lateral strains in the lateral white matter were also observed in contusion. The ability to directly observe and quantify in vivo spinal cord deformation informs our knowledge of the mechanics of TSCI.
authors: International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, 5000 - 818 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada. tim.bhatnagar@gmail.com.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2054-6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada. tim.bhatnagar@gmail.com.
authors: Tim
authors: T
authors: Bhatnagar
authors: International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, 5000 - 818 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada.
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Liu
authors: International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, 5000 - 818 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada.|UBC MRI Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
authors: Andrew
authors: A
authors: Yung
authors: International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, 5000 - 818 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2054-6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.
authors: Peter A
authors: PA
authors: Cripton
authors: International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, 5000 - 818 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada.|UBC MRI Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
authors: Piotr
authors: P
authors: Kozlowski
authors: International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, 5000 - 818 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada.|Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2054-6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada.|Department of Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, 910 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 1M9, Canada.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Oxland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D066193:Cervical Cord / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003288:Contusions / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
keywords: Biomechanics; Clinical injury mechanism; Image registration; In vivo; MRI; Rodent model; Strain field; Traumatic spinal cord injury