JMIR Publications

Background:

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and perfusion-weighted imaging (PWI) are often used to guide thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute ischemic stroke. In recent years, many scholars have explored new imaging methods to obtain representative ischemic brain injury characteristics. The traditional diffusion imaging model conforms to the Gaussian distribution model.

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic effect of compression sensing–based DWI and PWI on the ischemic penumbra of early cerebral infarction in New Zealand rabbits.

Methods:

The New Zealand rabbit was selected as the research object and was divided into experimental and control groups by constructing animal models. Rabbit models in both groups were subjected to magnetic resonance imaging scans at different time points for the examination and observation of relevant indicators. In addition, the brain tissues of each group of rabbits were further stained and analyzed.

Results:

The comparative analysis of the forehead cortex and basal ganglia in the rabbit models indicated that, with an increase in the b value (the diffusion sensitivity coefficient of magnetic resonance), the signal of the frontal cortex was weakened, while the signal of the basal ganglia was enhanced; in addition, the overall image gradually blurred, and the signal-to-noise ratio increased. The comparison of the signal intensity indicated that the larger the b value, the more obvious the signal enhancement. The analysis of the changes in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and relative apparent diffusion coefficient (rADC) indicated that, in the central lesion side of the basal node abnormal signals, the ADC and the rADC values first increased then decreased as time increased. In addition, the ADC values in the mismatched area of DWI and PWI decreased to zero 6 hours after cerebral ischemia, indicating that 6 hours after ischemia, the sizes of DWI and PWI were the same, and the mismatched area disappeared. Further pathological examinations showed that, with the increase in ischemia time, the neuronal deformation became more apparent. In addition, the mitochondrial membrane was lysed. Eventually, the mitochondria of vascular endothelial cells also showed edema, and the sputum disappeared. Compared with the traditional method, the dynamic magnetic resonance imaging method based on the compression sensing theory could better reconstruct dynamic magnetic resonance images.

Conclusions:

The experimental results suggest that the b value has obvious effects on the early detection and treatment of cerebral infarction. In addition, the existence of ischemic penumbra could be inferred based on ADC values. Despite the limitations in the experimental process, the results have provided experimental evidence for the clinical treatment of cerebral infarction diseases in the future.