Photochemical models of focal brain ischemia

Abstract

The photochemical stroke model has a number of advantages: size and location can be exactly determined, the skull does not have to be opened, the model works in rats and mice, and technical variations allow for the induction of subcortical stroke, stroke in newborn animals, or stroke with a penumbra. With photochemical reactions, thrombotic occlusions of large arteries as well as of small penetrating brain arteries may also be produced. However, the model does differ in some aspects from stroke in humans. We herein describe techniques for inducing these stroke models and discuss their potential limitations.