Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2025, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (7): 2029-2037.doi: 10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-23-01617

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A promising approach for quantifying focal stroke modeling and assessing stroke progression: optical resolution photoacoustic microscopy photothrombosis

Xiao Liang1, 2, 3, Xingping Quan4 , Xiaorui Geng1, 2, Yujing Huang1, 2, Yonghua Zhao4 , Lei Xi3 , Zhen Yuan1, 2, *, Ping Wang5, *, Bin Liu5, *   

  1. 1 Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macao Special Administrative Region, China;  2 Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macao Special Administrative Region, China;  3 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China;  4 State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Taipa, Macao Special Administrative Region, China;  5 Department of Emergency, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • Online:2025-07-15 Published:2024-11-27
  • Contact: Zhen Yuan, PhD, zhenyuan@um.edu.mo; Ping Wang, pingwang@jnu.edu.cn; Bin Liu, PhD, nysylb@163.com.
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by University of Macau, China, Nos. MYRG2022-00054-FHS and MYRG-GRG2023-00038-FHS-UMDF (to ZY); the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund, China, Nos. FDCT0048/2021/AGJ and FDCT0020/2019/AMJ and FDCT 0011/2018/A1 (to ZY); and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province of China, No. EF017/FHS-YZ/2021/GDSTC (to ZY).

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Abstract: To investigate the mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of ischemic stroke, some methods have been proposed that can simultaneously monitor and create embolisms in the animal cerebral cortex. However, these methods often require complex systems and the effect of age on cerebral embolism has not been adequately studied, although ischemic stroke is strongly age-related. In this study, we propose an optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy-based visualized photothrombosis methodology to create and monitor ischemic stroke in mice simultaneously using a 532 nm pulsed laser. We observed the molding process in mice of different ages and presented agedependent vascular embolism differentiation. Moreover, we integrated optical coherence tomography angiography to investigate ageassociated trends in cerebrovascular variability following a stroke. Our imaging data and quantitative analyses underscore the differential cerebrovascular responses to stroke in mice of different ages, thereby highlighting the technique’s potential for evaluating cerebrovascular health and unraveling age-related mechanisms involved in ischemic strokes.

Key words: age-dependent, cerebral cortex,  ischemic stroke,  mouse model,  optical coherence tomography angiography,  photoacoustic 
microscopy,  photothrombosis,  vascular imaging