A novel apparatus for lateral fluid percussion injury in the rat

Abstract

Lateral fluid percussion injury (LFPI) is the most commonly used experimental model of human traumatic brain injury (TBI). To date, investigators using this model have produced injury using a pendulum-and-piston-based device (PPBD) to drive fluid against an intact dural surface. Two disadvantages of this method, however, are (1) the necessary reliance on operator skill to position and release the pendulum, and (2) reductions in reproducibility due to variable friction between the piston’s o-rings and the cylinder. To counteract these disadvantages, we designed a low-priced, novel, fluid percussion apparatus that delivers a pressure pulse of air to a standing column of fluid, forcing it against the intact dural surface. The pressure waveforms generated by this apparatus are similar to those reported in the LFPI/PPBD literature and had little variation in appearance between trials. In addition, our apparatus produced an acute and chronic TBI syndrome similar to that in the LFPI/PPBD literature, as quantified by histological changes, MRI structural changes and chronic behavioral sequelae.

Entorhinal cortex lesions result in adenosine-sensitive high frequency oscillations in the hippocampus

“…One of the consequences of TBI is post-traumatic epilepsy, although its development in human patients can take weeks or years. In clear contrast to human cases, where the worst case scenario is a concussion that leads to tissue damage with diffuse axonal injury and intracranial hemorrhage, animal models can replicate the causes of the injury (Frey et al, 2009) as well as produce controlled, more severe "axonal injury", like the deafferentation of entorhinal cortex (EC)-to-EC connections that we here study.…”

Novel Model of Frontal Impact Closed Head Injury in the Rat

“…Spontaneous behavioral activity was assessed using quantified vertical exploration (Frey et al, 2009). The rats were placed in a freshly-cleaned acrylic glass cylinder (20 cm diameterÂ20 cm high) and spontaneous behavior was recorded using a digital video camcorder.…”

Animal Models of Traumatic Brain Injury

“…Dragonfl y R&D Inc. [ 10 ] manufactures a model with a fl exible hose attached to the nozzle, making it possible to deliver the pressure pulse into the skull cavity with the rodent in the stereotaxic frame. Frey et al have developed a novel design where the pendulum and piston are replaced by a picospritzer [ 11 ], though this model is not yet commercially available.…”