Laser-Based Method to Induce and Image Cortical Microstrokes In Vivo for Preclinical Analyses

Technology Description: Stroke is an acute disease process, in which diagnosis and treatment must be performed in a narrow window of time in order to be effective. To enable the development of new therapies and pharmacological agents to treat stroke, UC San Diego researchers have developed a technique for the targeted initiation and observation of clot formation in near-surface and deep vessels in a rodent cortex. The procedure uses ultrashort pulses of laser light to initiate one of three changes on a vessel-by-vessel basis: hemorrhage, clot, or transient breakdown of the blood brain barrier. The detailed flow patterns in all vessels in a neighborhood may be recorded, along with assessment of the damage and recovery. The new method is the only technique available for the timed and real-time assessment of interventional therapies.

Applications: This method accurately reproduces human brain pathologies and allows the pharmacological treatment of brain tissue while monitoring the outcome in real time. Researchers can study, in greater detail and with more precision and reliability, drug candidates and other treatments directed at reducing or preventing microstrokes, thrombosis, Charcot-Bouchard aneurysms, ischemia, brain hemorrhage, and others.

The use of this model can significantly lower the cost of preclinical trials while increasing their accuracy and sensitivity, allowing researchers to test more candidate therapies in less time and with less overall cost.

Intellectual Property Information: See U.S. patent 7,258,687 issued 21 Aug 2007; Device and method for inducing vascular injury and/or blockage in an animal model.

Related Case: SD2010-154

Case Number: SD2003-021

Inquiries To: invent@ucsd.edu