In this study the focal effects of moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI) on cerebral blood flow (CBF) as reported by SPECT cerebral brain perfusion (CBP) imaging in an animal model were investigated by parallelized statistical techniques. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a control group or test group receiving fluid percussion injury directly to the left parietal lobe.
Qualitative SPECT CBP accuracy was assessed against reference radioactive microsphere technique (RMT) regional CBF measurements by map reconstruction, registration and smoothing. Cerebral hypoperfusion in the test group was then identified at the voxel level using a statistical parametric mapping (SPM) model.
Using SPM-SPECT CBP, a significant area of hypoperfusion (P <0.01) was found as a characteristic response to the TBI. Further study and correlation o f this characteristic lesion with long-term outcomes and auxiliary diagnostic modalities is critical to developing more effective emergency treatment guidelines and automated medical imaging processing techniques.
